Man’s Lot

With a body hewn by the ages,
A changing I had no part in,
An effort I could not observe,
Among the countless made,
I had no choice in what it would be,
It couldn’t be but through sanction,
A passing through eternity’s gauges,

Time is evidence of its efficacy,
Eyes that are meant to see,
Hands that are meant to grasp,
Mind that is meant to know,

The universe has given me its graces,
It is my time to make use them,
Whether I am of misery or of joy,
In freedom or in slavery,
It is my lot to have what I have,
And to make of it what I must and can,
Into eternity I go through these paces,

In the total, these graces are small,
But for my purposes they are everything,
From which consequence comes,
Into my glory and life, I go.