The Inn Keeper's Excuse

"Oh, if I had only known"
Said the keeper of the Inn,
But no hint to me was shown
And I didn't let them in.

Yes, a star gleamed overhead,
But I couldn't read the skies,
And I'd given every bed
To the very rich and wise.

And she was so poorly clad,
And he hadn;t much to say,
But no room for them I had,
So I ordered them away.

She seemed tired and it was late,
And they begged so hard that I
Feeling sorry for her state
In the stable let them lie.

Had I turned some rich man out
Just to make a place for them,
I'd have killed beyond a doubt
All my trade in Bethlehem.

All my patrons now are dead
And forgotten, but today
All the world to peace is led
By the one I sent away.

It was my unlucky fate
To be born that Inn to own
Against Christ I shut the gate,
"Oh, if I had only known."

If we are ashamed of Jesus here,
We will be ashamed of ourselves for all eternity.

From Willie Pollock's poem book.