Poor Miserable Wretch!

Poor miserable wretch!
Hateful loathsome creature:
Selfishness clothed in Love -
Penultimate Sin -
Desiring that which cannot yet desire,
And will not be desired.

It is that I do not love,
Or that I love too much -
Granting freedom to one not ready
To freely wield the choice
Of love?

Do I -
Meekly, patiently - honestly -
Asking her to freely choose -
Bind her
To a choice not hers -
Not yet?

Poor miserable wretch!
Hateful loathsome creature:
Are you selfish -
Even if unwittingly,
Contrary to design -
Because she believes so?
The wrong is just as grave!

Aug 1969

Aiden

My little friend!

Why are you gone so soon?

What was your purpose

In your brief life?

Of course

It wasn’t your purpose.

It was God’s!

And I can’t know

What that was.

I get no answer

To my question

“Why?”

I’m confused!

It is difficult

To accept

And to have faith

That some good end

Was served.

But it was!

For your brief time

You brought something

To many.

You had friends -

Friends you never met -

Who cared for you

And felt for you

And prayed for you!

There formed

A great network

Of people reaching out

With common cause

To you

To your parents

To God

Which would not have been

Except for you.

And some of us

Learned something more

About prayer

For God’s will

And acceptance

Of the goodness

Of His plan

Whether seen or not.

I learned of courage

And strength

As your little body

Fought to live.

I learned more

of unselfish love

As I watched

Your father

Keep his watch.

And I learned more

Of my own strengths

As I tried to give

And of my weakness

As I doubted.

Thank you Aiden

For the chance

To know you

A little while

And be better for it!

You can rest now

Little one!