Wreckers or Builders

I watched them tearing a building down, A gang of men in a busy town. 

With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell, They swung a beam and a sidewall fell. 

I asked the foreman, «Are these men skilled, As the men you’d hire if you had to build?» 

He gave me a laugh and said, «No indeed! Just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two What builders have taken a year to do.» 

And I tho’t to myself as I went my way, Which of these two roles have I tried to play? 

Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by the rule and square? 

Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan, Patiently doing the best I can? 

Or am I a wrecker who walks the town, Content with the labor of tearing down?