"To Come Closer unto Thee"

FOUR POEMS

"TO COME CLOSER UNTO THEE"

To come closer unto Thee

I tried animal lust. But see,

It dissolved in a pool of science,

And I lost my clairvoyance.

Then I ate the fruit of the mind

Rushing reach-high into the garden;

Flavour of intellect would be kind

When the arteries began to harden,

I thought: sure mind fails not,

Hoarder of life's heart ever.

But I forgot what I thought,

While worms were eating Plato's dialogues.

By the river of Christ's blood, I cried,

Like Thee let me be, like Thee. I tried,

But that was further evidence of pride,

And I grew so weak I almost died.

If action's bad and contemplation's worse,

Christ His 'Christ and I myself,

High in life as lost in a hearse,

I might as well go to the movies.

Structure

22 lines · 7 stanzas