Countdown

NHS number, her date of birth;
Check on the blood-pressure, measure the girth;
Stars of the Milky Way, beats of a drum;
Three in the middle of finger and thumb.
 
Two plus three makes a mystical number;
Time in the morning to waken from slumber;
Five on one stone, the rest on the other;
Rules in the holy book to live with a brother.
 
Four noble truths, the sides of a square;
Limbs of the body, legs on the chair;
Points of the compass reach the ends of the earth;
Four-minute mile proving what we are worth.
 
Aspects of humanhood, persona of God;
Sides of a triangle, men in a boat;
Chivalrous musketeers ready to fight
Never a compromise – strive for the right.
 

      Tusks of the elephant, horns of the cow;
      Ears by the side of them, eyes by the brow;
      Masculine, feminine, in two by two,
      Fruitfully multiplying, that’s what they do.
 
      Use all the numbers, leaving just one;
      Words are completed, soon we’ll be done.
      Twenty six letters scrambled for fun
      Nine simple digits – now there are none.
 
      Emptied of everything we have been taught;
      Language of God, and the mystery of nought.
      Count down to zero, we know He is there
      Infinite Being, of whom we’re aware.
 
      Roll with the jazz, the rhythm and rock;
      Lines and spaces, tick of the clock.
      A B C D, E F G
      Five, four, three, two – one, two, three.
 

September 2013