Out of Sight, Out of Mind (Missing the obvious)

(For a PDF file of this poem, see the very end) 

One day a man went hiking,

Walked for quite a long way,

But when deciding to go home, he

Found he knew not the way.

So he began to wander,

Then decided to pray

And so he asked the Lord, “Oh won’t you

Please show me the way?”

As soon as he had asked for this,

A bird rose up and flew

And as he turned to watch,

He saw a sight that he knew.

Now he knew the way back home,

He knew the path to take,

But sadly when he took it

He encountered a snake.

The snake was coiled and angry and

Preparing for a bite,

And there was no room to back away

And no way to fight.

In desperation he again

Said another prayer,

When salvation once again arrived

From out of the air. 

A big hungry hawk attacked

From out of a tree

And it took the snake for dinner as

It aimed for his knee.

Now once again he was safe

And got back on the trail,

Feeling slightly better,

But still a little pale.

Well, he finally did arrive

And had some time to spare

For there were still two hours

‘Till his wife would be there.

Now he knew that he had promised her

To stay out of the bar,

But somehow he did not resist

And got in the car.

Soon he was there again

Where the foolish like to drink,

Wondering, ‘Oh my, what would

His wife and children think?’

He was just about to order when

They burst in through the door,

Two angry men with loaded guns

Said, “Get on the floor!”

He prayed again quite quickly,

“Forgive me – what I have done,

And help me Jesus help me,

The man is aiming a gun!”

As soon as he had prayed, the man went

Grabbing for his chest,

He started sweating, clutched his heart,

He’d now be laid to rest.

He fell on back, the gun went off,

A light came crashing down

Directly on the other one and

Knocked him to the ground.

Well, that was really quite enough

Excitement for one day,

So he left the bar and headed home

Where he would gladly stay.

Well, he finally got home safely and

Much later that night

Recalled all the coincidences that

Had kept him all right.

And just before he lay down for

The night upon his bed

He said another prayer to God and

This is what he said,

“Dear Lord, I want to thank you

That you’re always on call,

Though it appears that on this day 

I didn’t need you at all.

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