What Writest Thou?
“Write me as one who loves his fellow men.
No – wait! That’s still not right. Let’s start again.”
The angel raised his eyes to heaven and sighed,
his patience wearing thin. God knows, he’d tried
to do his job with this Ben Adhem bloke
(whose tribe had increased somehow). Abou spoke
more low – he didn’t want his wife to hear –
“If I say ‘fellow man’ they’ll think I’m queer.
Apologies, I don’t mean to be rude,
but can’t afford to have it misconstrued.”
The angel, writing in his book of gold,
said, “Look, I only put what I’ve been told.
The words aren’t up to me; it’s not my place,
but how about... ‘I love the human race’?”
Ben Adhem thought about it. “That will do
quite nicely, thank you,” so the angel flew
to find the next man ‘Love of God had blest’
and prayed he’d have less trouble with the rest.
|