Sing The Paper White

for the Corpus Christi Community, home for homeless alcoholic men
(opened in 1975 by Mother Teresa), near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia


On that more homeless-free day,
the day ‘Care’ met ‘Accreditation’,
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


‘They’ wanted to Meet -
after the Day staff, the Duty staff
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


And the Officials said to me:
‘And what are your Qualifications again?’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


And their Guilded Clipboard eclipsed
my humanities - in diploma and degree
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white


with Forms of white paper awaiting the pen,
with whiteout dealt by an Index finger.
- Sing the Lily, sing the Lily white.


So I said to them truly: ‘I am born and bred
a horticulturist - an earthy flower grower.’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


And they said to me: ‘What’s that
got to do with ‘Human Services’?’
- Sing the Lily, sing the Lily white


So I said to them: ‘Well! There’s
a lot of Vegetation going on here.’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


And they said: ‘Tell us men’s Names
we will Journal it! Document it!’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.

But I said: ‘Here such men live, in use
or useless, as often die in Honour nowhere else’...
- Sing the lily, Sing the Lily white.


‘And if we have ‘Used’ men, it is not to script
a note in Power, but in beds of a garden where
they can sing the Lily, sing the Lily white.’


‘For even the flowers in our flower beds are
best tended by such a useful man of them...’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white...


‘they neither toil too hard, make themselves busy,
nor keep pristine clean, nor are they much use.’
- Sing the Lily, Sing the Lily white.


‘But even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these’... to Sing the Lily!
Sing, in appreciation, sing the Lily white.


And they thanked me, They noted it on the Form.
They neatly wrote down fresh words that said:
“Sing the Lily” to sing the paper white.


8 Sept 2000 © Wayne David Knoll