From Mother's Favorite Verses: Good Old Days Remembers by Ken Tate (Berne, Ind.: House of White Birches, 2001), page 55:


GIVE FLOWERS TO THE LIVING
Will L. Thompson

Give the flowers to the living.
Let sweet fragrance fill the air.
Blessings follow with giving,
Pure and sweet as lily fair.

Give the toilers oft a token
Of the love you would bestow.
Shower blessings on the living.
If you love them, tell them so.

Give the flowers to the living.
Give them honor, love and cheer.
Let them see appreciation
Of their labors while they're here.

Give encouragement and praises
To the worthy ones you meet.
Sweetest blossoms for the living
Strew the path for weary feet.

Give the flowers to the living.
Scatter blossoms on life's way.
You will see the glad thanksgiving
Beaming heav'nward day by day.

Like the loving Magdalena,
Giving all she could bestow,
Shower blessings on the living.
If you love them, tell them so.

Give me all the flowers today,
Whether pink or white or red.
I'd rather have one blossom now
Than a truckload when I'm dead.