[Jim Hayes]

The Giving of Tongues

It was late in the sixth day and God had one last chore —
to give mankind its languages ( a thousand tongues or more)
“Listen to my voice” He said “ and know what you will speak!”
The Irish queued up to get Erse, the Greeks lined up for Greek.

The French got an accent that a million women cry for ,
the Scots aquired a dialect impossible to decipher.
The task was nearly finished and His voice was trailing off
when the Dutch were given Dutch as they listened to Him cough.

Jim Hayes