1: I'm determined to watch steps and tongue so they won't land me in trouble. I decided to hold my tongue as long as Wicked is in the room.
2: "Mum's the word," I said, and kept quiet. But the longer I kept silence The worse it got--
3: my insides got hotter and hotter. My thoughts boiled over; I spilled my guts.
4: "Tell me, what's going on, GOD? How long do I have to live? Give me the bad news!
5: You've kept me on pretty short rations; my life is string too short to be saved.
6: Oh! we're all puffs of air. Oh! we're all shadows in a campfire. Oh! we're just spit in the wind. We make our pile, and then we leave it.
7: "What am I doing in the meantime, Lord? Hoping, that's what I'm doing--hoping
8: You'll save me from a rebel life, save me from the contempt of dunces.
9: I'll say no more, I'll shut my mouth, since you, Lord, are behind all this.
10: But I can't take it much longer. When you put us through the fire
11: to purge us from our sin, our dearest idols go up in smoke. Are we also nothing but smoke?
12: "Ah, GOD, listen to my prayer, my cry--open your ears. Don't be callous; just look at these tears of mine. I'm a stranger here. I don't know my way--a migrant like my whole family.
13: Give me a break, cut me some slack before it's too late and I'm out of here."