Seeking Life’s Real Meaning

I’d readily toil in rain or sun,
Just to earn enough to live;
But I’d rather like to help someone
And to have enough to give.

For seek I, not just bread to eat
Or a place where I can sleep,
But a meaning to make this life complete
And peace to always keep.

Aye, what is life if lived alone,
With not a bit of sharing?
And what man is a man with heart of stone,
Not for his brother caring?

So, my fervent prayer shall always be
To live each single day
With strength and courage and a heart that’s free
From guilt along the way.

For whither I go from here I know not,
Nor wherefrom I have come,
Beyond the truth that life is short,
From birth till rest in sum.

Eric A. Trott

31st July 1991

 

If I Could

If I could turn back the hands of time,
I'd set it to the moment before
I first discovered, that my only crime
Was desiring just to have some more.

If I could take back the words I've said,
I'd take back every arrogant boast,
The things I've said when I lost my head,
Hurting those I've loved the most.

If I could undo every unkind action,
I'd replace every furious frown,
With a loving, gentle, kind reaction,
To everyone who had pulled me down.

If I could change the thoughts I've thought,
I'd choose the meanest ones I could,
Of those by whom I've been hurt a lot,
And those I've sometimes misunderstood.

If I could set the record right,
I'd confess every dishonest claim:
I'd walk by faith and not by sight,
And to love would be my only aim.

Yes. If I could, there's a lot I'd change
Of all my past has ever been,
So, may God in future, my steps arrange,
May my mind stay pure and my heart stay clean.

Eric A Trott
28th January 2020