Lament of a Single Man

Preface: It's been a long time since I've felt inspired to write a poem. It's been a long time since I've felt anything, to be honest, but every Valentine's day, without fail, my body remembers that it is alone. This poem is about me, but in a sense it is not about me at all. These are my thoughts, but not just my thoughts but those like me who know of the pain and privilege of singleness, of a life lived unto Christ. This is the cross I carry. This is the lament of a Single Man:


I've wandered alone off by the roadside
to watch the clouds as they idly fly
But as I sit here perched on a wall knee-high
it happened that two lovers passed me by


"How cruel," I thought, my cross at my side
penning letters to God as I sought out why
this wall had but room for one man to lie
as I lay here watching clouds pass in the sky


"Lord, send me someone equally shy,
meek and modest and as clever as I
She need not be perfect or pleasing," I write,
"I'd do this myself, but Lord knows I've tried!"


So here I sit, reading the clouds for reply
my eyes still damp as I let out a sigh
"Maybe next year perhaps I'll find
that certain someone to share our lives."


But the Lord said to me, "For years I've cried
watching and waiting for you, my bride.
Return to me and in me confide
and I'll return to you, in you I'll abide!"


To hear the Lord's answer, it came a surprise
"How foolish I've been who claim to be wise!"
So now at last I can finally die
thanking God for those clouds that passed me by.