Perceived Value

There once was a writer named Mr. McPride,`
Who kept his manuscript locked up inside.
“Before you can read it, you first have to swear,
That nobody else will be seeing what’s there.”

He marched to an agent and made quite a fuss,
With papers and clauses and legalized muss.
“God gave me these words, every sentence and line,
And nobody’s changing a single word of mine.”

The agent agreed and he gave it a look.
He turned a few pages to consider the book.
He nodded quite slowly and scratched at head,
Then smiled at the author and carefully said:

“I’m certain God gave you these words from above,
And surely he gave them with kindness and love.
I can see why God would give this book to you.
I wouldn’t want it either. That’s certainly true.”

The writer turned crimson from forehead to chin,
As silence came marching and settled right in.
For sometimes we guard what we lovingly write,
While readers are running away from the sight.

A story may sparkle. A lesson may gleam.
A message may rise from a heaven-sent dream.
But words are not treasures to bury and hide,
They’re boats for launching, not anchors of pride.

So polish and ponder and learn as you go.
Listen when wise folks share what they know.
For even God-given ideas may need creative art,
To travel from one lonely mind to another heart.

Some secrets are guarded with worry and fear,
As if eager thieves might be lurking quite near.
Yet the worst-kept secret, as many have learned,
Is a book no one wants till the value is earned.