Wednesday, March 9, 2011

But I can be tempted

In checkout-counter lives

thin red light beams

scan codes of curious lines

and compute the total

from the self-serving selection

in my full trolley basket,

(never quite under my control);

and the swiping eftpos plastic card

makes the painless payment

for the saturated-time pleasures,

high-comfort indulgences,

and gratifications

that will not be kept waiting.

At thirty-day intervals, approximately,

the statement from my soul shows

that I have little in reserve,

neither cash nor kind,

to feed the hungry or help the poor,

or to stand up for what is just;

and the words long ago spoken

by another who was tempted

return to remind me

that there are other ways to be.

Ah, but I can be tempted.

© Ken Rookes

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