Bend, But Don't Break!

Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake!”
The people got mad, as you would suspect;
She did not bend, and she refused to break,
Not likely a queen that you would expect.

Her refusal to bend made the townsfolk unstable –
For better lives, they overthrew their queen;
The peasants demanded that she be accountable;
When she was beheaded, there was joy at the scene…

*    *    *    *    *    *

For life’s ups and downs, we are sure to receive
The pity of those who believe God is the answer.
But when we suffer so much that we cannot believe
The will to keep living would be so much better! 

I’m sure you would trust some fair hand to guide you,
But you end up taking more pain than you can.
The Highest Power feels some cruelty is due you,
So doesn’t God have some ultimate plan?

Remember, my friend, to bend but not break!
You will always have my ear and my shoulder.
Send nothing to God, but for the Almighty’s sake,
There’s always a chance that life will get colder.

The odds say your life will have good days and bad ones –
Doesn’t the meaning of life have some clout?
For nothing’s as sure as the changing of seasons,
And if we’re to live, it means doing without.