Amos 5-13

Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, unable to use the keyboard shift keys and unschooled in the art of punctuation.

amos misses a quiet time

boss i had a lot to do

today but when i woke

up this morning life looked

upside-down and blurry

and not even your stale

coffee could put a kink in

my tail the way it usually does

says i - i don t have time

for my quiet time this

morning i ll pray and read

my bible some other time

after all i ve gotta be on my

way the sun s a-shinin and

i ve gotta make some hay

so off i went boss

whistling a little tune

but missing a note or

two and not really

knowing or caring

it turned out to be

a fine hectic day boss

a little chaos here

a big mud puddle there

and by noon i was ready

for the mous-i-tarium

complete with little

mousy strait jackets

moldy cheese and bouncy

rubber-walled rooms

it was the disaster day

of the year boss i kept

tripping over rugs and

electrical cords spilling

kool-aid all over my paper

and every time i needed

to go to the little mousy

boys room marcellus the

cat wanted to chase me

around the church pews

then i got yelled at by a big

fat earthworm who didn t like

my poems i was buzzed by a

battalion of bumblebees

belched at by a bunch

of bullfrogs and nearly

trampled to death by a

troop of tarantulas

while i was scurrying

secretly back home

right now boss my

life looks pretty grim

i have no more vigor

or vim and my chances

of survival waver

between none and slim

when i finally got home

weary and almost dead

i looked at my little

matchbox bed and there

was my little mousy

bible still unread

a cloud of guilt flashed

through my head

oh lord jesus please

forgive me i said and

his peace seemed to

settle over my heart

soul and head

i thought this morning i

was too busy - too sleepy -

i can t afford to pray but

now i ve found that s not

the right way the opposite

is true when you re tired

busy or blue and you say i

can t afford to pray i

guarantee at the end

of the day you ll be

prone to say i can t

afford not to pray

amos

p s - boss tomorrow may

have its problems but life

will still be on an even

keel because in my heart

is the calm assurance that

god is there and he is real -

for i can feel him in my

soul - as the old song goes

and it s all because of that

moment of peace and

serenity spent with him boss

for you see that quiet time

is like a slice of eternity