Before I Speak

When I was young, my thoughts were bold.
They solved the mysteries of old.
A question raised would hear my voice.
Disparaging my brother's choice.

I knew it all, until one day,
God took my arrogance away,
And left me with no words to speak.
Exposing my contrived mystique.

And once I learned that bitter truth,
I spurned the arrogance of youth,
And listened as a student should,
The way a teacher never would!

Man fell because he sought to know,
To reach a loftier plateau,
And be like God, with every breath!
But all he really earned … was death.

And what I learned from all of this,
A single truth no one should miss,
That knowledge dwells inside the frame,
But truth and knowledge aren't the same.

For truth is how the frame was made,
As all within rests in it's shade.
There's nothing truth has not explored,
No one can know it but the Lord!

In ignorance there is no shame.
No great nor small, we are the same.
It's when we strive to rise above,
That we choose pride over God's love.

The teacher builds the devil's tower,
The student takes away his power.
I learned to temper what I seek,
And turn to God before I speak.

This poem was a finalist in the July 2023 poetry contest