A Bag of Tools

One of my teens picked this poem to read during our weekly yummy goodies and poetry reading time. It's my new favorite:

A Bag of Tools
     by R.L. Sharpe

Isn't it strange
That princes and kings,
And clowns that caper
In sawdust rings,
And common people
Like you and me
Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make--
Ere life is flown--
A stumbling block
Or a steppingstone.