"FOR LIFE"

(As the registrar said)

For life -

No remissions or paroles

As if the judge had said,

“In this case, Life means Life”.

For life -

Not the mereness of existence,

Lichen on rock,

But vivacity

Pinioned on the high winds

Of love.

For life -

That, through God’s grace,

And by His discipline,

In His ways

Another generation

Should shoulder staves for Him.

For life -

Heirs together,

Smiths together, tasters together

Of the grace

Of life.