Lest by diminished vitality and abated
Vigilance, I become food for crocodiles-for that
quicksand
Of gluttony which is legion. It is there-close
at hand-
On either side
Of me. You remember the Israelites who said
in pride
“And stoutness of heart: 'The bricks are fallen down,
we will
Build with hewn stone, the sycamores are cut down,
we will charge to
Cedars?? I am not ambitious to dress stones,
to renew
Forts, nor to match
My value in action, against their ability to catch
“Up with arrested prosperity. I am not like
Them, indefatigable, but if you are a god you will
Not descriminate against me. Yet-if you may fulfill
None but prayers dressed
As gifts in return for your own gifts-disregard
the request.