Holiness is Not a Prize [poem]

I took too long to realize

That holiness is not a prize

My blackened heart and vicious teeth

Should have been proof enough to me.

The golden gates, just out of reach

Are always there and mocking me

Until I cry in full despair

“If I run, I know not where,

If I fight, I know not who

Who can I go to but You?”

Then and only then do these

Angels wings attach to me

Mercury’s boots fit on my feet

Lift me to Your mercy seat

I took too long to realize

Holiness is not a prize

But if I’m wrong, and prize it be

I gain it only on my knees.

Catholic Anonymous