Timely Ifs

 

 

O that it were different

And our “ifs” had come before

And the outcome before contemplated

The act would have been no more.

 

But alas, the act preceded the “if”

And the outcome proceeded as planned,

Damage control was ineffective

Regret continued for a span.

 

“O had I known,” but you did,

Post thought to quell the mind,

If only you had thought before

“If” would still be in time.

 

There’s nothing like a timely “if”

Before we commit an act,

An “if” that’s duly thought over

For the act cannot be taken back.

 

 

Sorry and sorrow may follow

And a contrite heart we may manage

But this pales when compared to “if”

When “if” comes before the damage.

 

“If” is an indication of fear

That something could go very wrong,

This attempt to send a message

May bring a whole lot down.

 

If Judas had really thought it over

Perhaps he would have seen the light

But instead his greed and avarice

Landed him in that plight.

 

 

“If” Peter had remembered

Before the cock had actually crowed

Maybe there’d been no denial

And as a consequence, his load.

 

Of course it could not be different

Since Jesus had prophesied

That both these events would happen

So neither could be denied.

 

But we don’t know the future

It’s in the present that we act

So now is the time to consider “if”

And not right after the fact.

 

Stewart Russell © February 2018