Act of service

Hell is more about frostbite than flame
And I have kept you warm
    (I would spit you out if I didn’t)
I have a lost a toe or two
    To this freezing contempt
I never asked you,
    After all

    After all,
You took me in
    After the first knock on your door
        After all,
You set the manger

I only paid my respects and gave you tribute
    In this,
        I have not sinned
I have put myself at your feet and cried,
    Washed them with the whole flow of the Nile
You thanked me for this
    It was nothing,
    It was nothing,
        here,
            here,
        here you have,
    It was nothing, really,
            I always say.
It was a calling-
To please a neighbour,
    One,
        Two,
            Or three...