Keep Your Least


Keep your least—do not waste it on the great,
Lest you beg when all your strength has passed;
With your least, you can endure your fate,
Trust not in them, their promises won’t last.

If you fail, you will be brought to need,
So hold your least and guard it firm and fast;
Trust not people swayed by want or greed,
With little kept, you still may stand at last.

They cannot keep the secrets that you share,
Nor silence hold when trumpets sound abroad;
They rise in noise, then vanish into air,
While what is least in you stands firm with God.

So keep your least—it speaks when all is gone,
The final word you hear when all move on.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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