Higher Law

The law proclaimed throughout the land
Helping strangers is totally banned
Crystal clear the message rang
If you help strangers, you will hang

One frosty night, a feeble knock
Bau gripped her work-stained smock
Phil said, O my, O my
If we help them we will die

But Bau said there’s higher morality
Remember the law of hospitality
Phil nodded and crossed the floor
With bated breath, opened the door

Two strangers stood, painfully thin
With shabby clothes and wrinkled skin
Welcome strangers, please sit and share
Come, partake of our meagre fare

Bau boiled the water nice and hot
Vegetables and the last piece bacon in the pot
Soon all four were modestly fed
On the thin soup and quite stale bread

The strangers stood and both bowed low
Their bodies shimmering, all aglow
There stood Zeus, the God supreme
And impish Hermes, face abeam

Higher Law

You’ve done well, Bau and Phil
Helping strangers, not doing ill
You’ve held to the ancient law
And so you will hunger no more

Their hovel changed to spacious house
Delightful for Bau and her loving spouse
And when pangs of hunger began to tap
All they had to do was stand and clap

There would appear most wondrous spread
Meats and cheeses, fruits, fresh bread
They savoured delectable nectar
Banished forever the hunger spectre

The meal is accompanied by music and song
Quite often, the old hen clucks along
Phil and Bau will hunger no more
Because they held to the ancient law