Volume 1 Number 3 Page 18

Song of Myself

Going my way

with the Name of my Master

on my lips,

with the presence of my Beloved

(oh, beyond fairness)

in my heart.

Behold me, one who loves adversity, who

welcomes defeat;

who is bent upon loss,

and is eager to strip himself of possession of himself.

I am ready to laugh with you in your joy;

to weep with you in your tears.

But my laughter and weeping have no meaning

except in His love.

What I say from myself

has not the minutest particle of value;

But what I say because of Him,

do not take that lightly,

or be absent

when it is said.

And oh,

tell GOD in your prayers

(if you pray),

that I do not know how much longer I can endure

this pain, . . .

But that if He removes it, even for a moment,

I will never again call Him compassionate.

Francis Brabazon

Reprinted by special permission from “Proletarians . . . Transition”