The ceiling at 2 in the morning

The ceiling at 2 in the morning

I can fool you,
I can even fool my wife.
I can fool myself at 6 in the evening
But not that ceiling to save my life.

I can talk a good game,
Make noises that pass for light.
I can run that game on you,
But not that ceiling in the dead of night.

God's greatest gift is pain,
my cup did run over with fright.
And never was that gift clearer,
Than on that ceiling late at night.

I could not hide from it,
I could not pretend it did not know.
The ceiling just stared down mutely,
At the mask less fraud below.

The truth will set you free,
Or so I have heard.
The ceiling was my teacher.
Though it never uttered a word.

Yet as I lay beneath it's gaze,
My last sham fallen away.
I came to that lowly place
Where failure alone holds sway.

In defeat I found freedom,
That great gift came without warning.
In loss a great victory was mine.
lying under that ceiling at 2 in the morning.

Richard
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