Muriel's Christian Poetry

Sketch by Graham Naylor

A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE

I felt lonely, sad and rejected
And crept round like a frightened mouse;
My heart was nigh to breaking,
A stranger was in the house.

I was fretful and over-anxious
Often cried and would sometimes rouse;
My life had become unmanageable, because
Of this stranger in our house.

He downgraded us at every turn,
All ambition he would douse,
We could never attain achievement
With this stranger in our house.

"How could you marry him?" the children cried;
"He is no better than a louse,"
But this was not the man that I married,
This was a stranger in our house,

But where was the man that I married?
Where was my faithful spouse,
Who had promised to love and cherish me,
Who was this stranger in our house?

'Then I no longer felt sad and rejected
Or crept round like a frightened mouse;
I was on the Al-anon programme, though still,
This stranger was in our house.

I was told this was really my husband,
This indeed was my loving spouse;
But he suffered from an illness which made him
A stranger in our house

Then he went to A..A. meetings,
Less and less did he rant and rouse;
He learnt of a power that could change him back
From that stranger in our house,

Now the programme we work together,
Much joy in our hearts does arouse,
Since the Higher Power which we choose to call God
Drove that stranger from our house.