An Angel's Step
An angel’s step is like the morning dew.
He came to me within the morning light,
Or half-light, as the day was breaking new
And I scarcely awake, not sleeping, quite
Since all the dreams of night had taken flight.
If there was anything that I would have,
The angel asked me, him before my sight,
I in my bed, not feeling scared or brave,
My room with the appearance of a cave
Bathed in a half-light. If he sat or stood
I knew not, as he probed for what I crave.
I answered him, without a thought for good
Or ill, for I was in the waking mood
When disposition to deceive is gone.
“Balance” I said, the first word that I could
Think of, and then I knew I was alone,
The visitor had left, his work was done,
And I continued, like as in a dream
To contemplate the sense of what went on,
Except fully awake my state did seem,
In fact I knew it so; now my brain teem
With thoughts of wonderment, was it a test
The angel posited? Such it I deem,
And wonder further, what does it suggest,
For I have many base desires confessed
As precedent to all before the Lord,
So many lusts by all the world repressed,
That it seems strange, such a reply occurred.
I thought about the dream that I had heard
Recounted in the Bible, how the son
Of David was so asked what he preferred
By God’s angel—I speak of Solomon,
And answer that he gave forever stun
The world and leave its hearer out of breath.
“Wisdom” he said, instead of lustful fun,
Instead of power over life and death,
And many other things. All fall beneath
That single entity, wherefore as wise
From every hearth to furthest meager heath
The son of David, all men recognize,
And in their hearts, his truthful answer prize.
The story in my youth, I had been taught,
But never thought, that much to my surprise
In later life, an angel would be brought
To visit me, so ask, and that I ought
Be called to render my reply sincere,
Issued from spirit not devised in thought
And that all posturing would disappear.
As I lay in my bed, the morning clear,
I wondered if the answer that I gave
Unto the angel—him no longer near—
Had been improper, had I made a grave
Error effects of which I not forstave
On my eternal soul? Did I do right?
At first I felt worse than a fool or knave,
Not having answered “wisdom,” as I might
Had I but studied, practiced to recite
The tale of Solomon; but then I knew
“Wisdom” and “balance” are not disunite—
Before he left I learned my heart was true.
An angel’s step is like the morning dew.