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Vera Kilgore Heilig: Her Poetry Lives (2017) H. Morris Williams, Marie Law Haire
God gave me this small thing I could do.
Pondering my gifts unto the least of these,
I smugly felt that I was sure to please
Till I remembered that there is another side.
No rooster crowed today when I denied
My Master, but I knew I had betrayed
Him basely. I remembered that I made
A sharp retort that stirred another’s wrath.
A softer answer might have cleared the path
To understanding, but I lost a friend
Because I could not find the grace to bend.
My voice, the same that sang a hymn of praise
Spoke words that I’ll regret for many days.
And then I must confess — it can’t be hid —
One outward-seeming generous deed I did
Was done with grudging heart. I cannot claim
This as a cup of water given in His name.
When meal time came and I had bowed my head
And thanked the Father for my daily bread,
Did I remember there are those who need
Bread upon which their hungry souls may feed
As well as other bread? And did I give
Instinctively of both that these might live?
No, Lord, I did not hear a rooster crow,
But when your Spirit speaks to me I know
I fall far short of what I ought to be.
I am a sinner, Lord, be merciful to me.
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