To Laura Lee

Your bible is here, Laura Lee.
It is safe now, protected in a
home that cherishes our Messiah.
I haven’t opened it much, I’ll admit –
it’s not mine to hold – I am hoping
that you want to study it again.
See, during summer 2005,
I wanted to make a difference, to
help you, anyone joined in Christ
again, as you must have in 1972.
‘The Bible’ is in gold, on a black
hard cover – undisturbed now.
But it wasn’t so perfect last year –
the binding had come undone.
Not to worry – we refurbished it –
my son learned a lot that day –
to restore, to respect and to believe.
Sorting through a stack of books
in the Penny Pincher, I retrieved it.
Where IS this house of worship,
I wondered, where you spent hours
on bended knee, hands held high,
on Easter, at Christmas, any day?
Baptist Temple Church School
presented the Holy Bible to you,
sister Laura Lee Hardway – recall?
You’ve parted, but it’s yours again,
as it was, in the beginning,
now some 34 long years ago.