New Arrival

Copyright; Brian Bell
From his book 'Punch Lines'

The Pope was standing by St. Peter's gate
with no-one there to welcome him, it seems,
from five AM till almost half past eight,
which didn't reinforce his lifelong dreams.

An angel came and offered him a drink
and said "We all await a special guest.
Your welcome will be quite the way you think,
tomorrow, so today just have a rest".

The Pope said "I expected so much more".
"You'll meet a swag of Popes tomorrow, lad",
the angel said "Right now we're waiting for
a lawyer. He's the first we've ever had".

A fanfare sounded. Everyone stood up
to see a lawyer, stunned and quite confused.
St. Peter's angel handed him a cup.
His holiness. The Pope, was not amused.

"It's not by deeds you got here", Peter said
"You're here because your lifespan was so long".
The lawyer wasn't sure that he was dead.
"I just turned forty-two, so what went wrong?"

St. Peter said "Your printout caused loud cheers,
it's accuracy a toast to modem science,
your life - a record seven hundred years,
according to the time you've charged your clients".

Copyright; Brian Bell