I WOULD RATHER NOT GO

In all truth I tell you, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.' (John 21:18)

It may come to pass

That when I grow old

I will always be cold

By the fire

In the draft

Of an open door

Afraid when left

On my own

By my own disowned

And when I lose myself

My self control

They will take me

To a place where

I would rather not go

Leaving me there

Until I go senseless

And then I will cry like a child

With an ache that is not understood

Not having the words to define it

And all I will know

Is a far distant fear

Ever near

That I am unfit for Communion

And raising the cap

I no longer possess with respect

I will cry like a child

Until Christ be in everything
And everything within me