1. I stand a prisoner of sins at Your door
Seeking passage though bankrupt of virtue

2. Every day I repent, then relapse
When will I desist or be touched by grace?

3. I revel after forty though it’s
The extent of deviation from propriety

4. I glance hopefully if a glimmer appears
And listen intently if a caller shouts

5. I make excuses and procrastinate
While weak souls waver in hesitation

6. And though I know where passion’s cure lies
I pursue it, but where is bolstered will?

7. How can I hope to wake from fervor
When neither heart throbs nor tears flow?

8. I watch while persisting in repentance
Alas, no fruit thrives on barren regrets

9. If my mind cannot deter me from folly
What good are lessons to admonish me?

10. My soul does as I do not wish
With no argument from reason to deter it

11. So my Lord, I have fallen into misery
Born of wishful thinking and delusion

12. And You may destroy the idle for their first sin
And save others for their finer qualities

13. Yet I hope for Your mercy soon
Although I fear my wicked acts