The Entrance Exam
I sat ready to take the Entrance Exam
Determined to give it my very best shot
Hoping my answers would get me in
But worried that they may not
I looked around at the others in the room
Already deeply buried in the text
Some quickly scribbling their answers down
While others seemed terribly vexed
One tester yelled, “This isn’t fair”
“These aren’t the questions I studied for!”
I saw two others tear the test in half
And fall crying on the floor
Cheaters caught looking at another’s exam
Where quickly escorted out
I was ready to open my test booklet
Suddenly filled with horrible doubt
I know I got the first question right
“What is your name?”, is all that it read
But I wasn’t prepared for the second one
“When was it that they found you dead?”
I knew then just what this exam was for
And what place I was testing to get in
I took a deep breath, prepared for the worse
And turned the next page to begin
There were no questions about what is in the bible
Or how often to church I went
There were no questions regarding any religion at all
Or how my Sundays I had spent
There were no questions about the Ten Commandments
Or about using God’s name in vain
There were no questions regarding prayers that were said
And no dogma for me to explain
There was just one question in the middle of the page
Answer it truthfully, I knew that I should
I reread that question about twenty times,
“Did you do all the good that you could?”
Suddenly I was awakened by a beeping sound
And a doctor saying, “We’ve got him back”
The Entrance Exam I will have to retake
Because I didn’t die from that heart attack
But now that I had a look at that test
I know what I need to do to be better prepared
So the next time I sit in the Examiner’s room
I can write about all of the people for which I had cared
Copyright © Joe Flach | Year Posted 2012
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