The Death Bed

All the time they were praying He watched the shadow of a tree Flicker on the wall.

There is no need of prayer, He said, No need at all.

The kin-folk thought it strange That he should ask them from a dying bed. But they left all in a row And it seemed to ease him To see them go.

There were some who kept on praying In a room across the hall And some who listened to the breeze That made the shadows waver On the wall.

He tried his nerve On a song he knew And made an empty note That might have come, From a bird’s harsh throat.

And all the time it worried him That they were in there praying And all the time he wondered What it was they could be saying.