Nothing is so insignificant
as the most significant sinner.
He treads the weak and cheats the poor
to make himself the winner.

And all the while, he takes some courage
from all the lives he’s ruined.
He scorns the widows, mocks the sick,
and marks his victims with a tick.

And even in his deep remorse,
he takes a cruel satisfaction, of course,
from knowing that he alone is the worst,
and in sin, he always ranks the first.

But the widow – now she is married.
And the sick – now he is well.
And the victim – he is saved from Hell.
So what then, of this great, notorious sinner?

His greatness is lost
in the smallness of his transgression.
And even those he wronged
in time will sing him no song.

For wounds last but awhile,
then health returns, and pain is forgotten.
And each life taken is replaced,
by every new child begotten.

Onward marches the relentless troops of good,
like a torrent pouring, a wind sculpting the rock.
slowly it advances, its progress unnoticed,
but sure as the clicking of the clock.

And in the end, evil inherits despair.
Its fate is to pass away, fade, like smoke.
Its memory disperses like the chilled, morning air,
and God blots out its effects with one, swift stroke.

In the end, even the pride of sinners succumbs.
Their torture is knowing
that none of their tortures remain.
Their wickedness passes like the wind
through the fingers of the Lord’s outstretched hand.

And so this is the key to life everlasting:
be good, be brave, be generous, be kind.
No other rope can immortality bind,
than that of simple righteousness -
an innocence sublimely lived.

All else crumbles to dust
like cliffs in the desert heat.