by Alan Steinle
When Johnny was a growing boy,
his mother gave him every toy
that he could want. He didn’t think
about what he would eat or drink,
and neither did he think about
what he would wear when going out.
He didn’t care what mother chose:
He didn’t think about his clothes.
When John had grown into a teen,
he looked around, and he was keen
to wear the latest trends that peers
were wearing, for his greatest fear
was that the others would deride
his clothes, and he could not abide
the thought that sometimes left him stunned:
He could be ostracized or shunned.
When John had grown into a man,
he got a job and he began
to wear a suit and tie each day.
This uniform was just a way
for workers to display their class
to all the people who might pass.
But John soon felt he could not wear
a different shirt, a different pair
of pants, for his identity
was in that suit. Security
came from the habit he’d acquired
of always being thus attired.
(Now, you may not believe it’s true,
but John began to think and do
some things that others might find odd.
You might decide his thoughts were flawed
or that he was a novel case
because his acts weren’t commonplace.
Before you judge him, look around,
for others like him may be found.)
Then John began to wear his suit
to bed, and he was resolute.
Although his wife did not agree
that it was right, she let him be.
Although the suit began to smell
and wrinkle, no one dared to tell
him that he should replace his clothes.
What is my goal, do you suppose,
in telling you this silly tale?
I have a reason to unveil.
The suit that John had held so dear
is like the body that we fear
to leave behind, for we are used
to wearing it, might be confused
when we have doffed our worn-out suit.
But we would not be destitute:
Our spirit is our wealth untold,
which never wrinkles or gets old.
Though bodies age, wear out, and ail,
our spirits do not die or fail.
When knowing life is never through,
we can be brave to live here too.
Although this life is hard and brief,
and can be filled with pain and grief,
and things we learn while in this state
are hid until we graduate,
our lives are never lived in vain.
Despite the anguish and the pain,
we will retain what we receive,
and when the time is right, we’ll leave.
Our spirits will be free to fly,
and what we are will never die.