191 - Sublet

Sublet
By Benjamin Williams

Not long ago
I had a parley with a bad
  character . .
once I got the nerve.
It seems I had to serve
  eviction notice.
He never paid the rent,
  and frequently had spent
  all my savings.
To my best recollection
the order of ejection
   went like this:

Time-worn worry, you've had your say!
I frankly wish you'd go away
  and find some other sultry shore
    to bother with your biddie's chat
and clever little tricks of thought.
My freedom was too dearly bought
  to waste on you. I'll have no boor
    inhabiting my welcome mat.
The landlord of this mobile home
  says you can't live here anymore.
His son himself has bought this land.
  You've got to move, and that is that.
  The landlord had commanded;
  My tenant, reprimanded,
    left promptly.
Though lemons be sweet, and sugar be sour,
our risen Lord still reigns in power.
And when I'm weak, I must confess
he's never left me comfortless.
Although down-hearted, he's my prize:
the Christ, the hope who never dies.

Benjamin Williams is a graduate of Stetson University and Princeton Theological Seminary. During the present academic year, he has been studying in Germany. "Sublet" formed the basis of a daily chapel service which Mr. Williams conducted at Princeton Seminary a year ago.