Isaac

I’m Isaac I am,
And I’ve come here today,
To tell you a really good story;
And once when you hear it
I think you will see,
Why I praise God and give him the glory.

The story I tell is of my little trip,
About which I was really excited;
Though I have to admit,
As I look at it now,
I was young and extremely short sighted.

My dad got a donkey,
And loaded it up,
And balanced the saddle dead straight;
But he didn’t take food,
Not even a fruit,
Such as orange, or melon, or grape.

I was starving that night
When we camped under stars,
As they twinkled beside a full moon;
And I have to confess
That I prayed to my god,
That he’d send me some supper … and soon.

But supper there wasn’t;
Nor breakfast, nor lunch;
And fast was I fading away.
I longed for a burger,
McDonalds or such,
Or a similar fast take-away.

Next day we continued,
And into the next;
Three days was the length of the fast.
Now don’t get me wrong,
I like holidays,
But I wondered how long it would last.

Then dad said we’d arrived,
And left servants behind,
And took me atop a big hill.
The view there was grand,
He held on to my hand,
For by then I was feeling quite ill.

He said, “You lie down,
You look really dead beat.
I’ll get all the things that we need”.
I knew then at last,
That my hunger would end,
And we’d both have a jolly good feed.

I thought, “What’s going on?”
As he bound me up tight;
And laid me on top of the wood.
But dad never spoke
As he took out his knife,
And towering over me stood.

We were both quite hungry,
My father and me;
The trip had been tiring and grim.
But I knew if he ate me
He’d be rather sad,
‘Cos cannibalism is sin.

I was covered in sweat;
The knife hung in the air,
When an angel voice shouted out, “Stop”;
And there in the thicket,
A ram standing proud,
But with horns tangled up at the top.

My dad let me go,
And he tied up the ram,
And lifted it there in my place;
But often I wonder
If I would be here,
If it wasn’t for God and his grace.

We sacrificed ram,
And roasted it up,
And boy did we have a good feed.
The mutton was grand,
It was done to a ‘T’,
And we finished it all with great speed.

Now if you go on holiday,
Just do a check …
And ensure that the cases include,
All the things that you want,
And essentials you need …
Like clothing … and water … and food.

© 1997 Dick Underwood

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