We Laughed as Loud and as Wild as we Would

A Poem by Andy Patton and a song by me

My friend Andy Patton is a talented poet and writer and T.S. Eliot aficionado. He keeps content churning out over at The Rabbit Room and he’s the creator of three different newsletters: Three Things, Still Point, and The Pattern Bible. Oh! And a fourth, The Darkling Psalter. Needless to say, the man is prolific, and he’s sharing meaningful work in the world.

We first met at L’Abri Fellowship in 2016 where he and his wife Lindsey were working and I showed up for three months to stay. As God would see fit, our lives would intersect again while he and Lindsey were living in Nashville for a while.

The Darkling Psalter is an ambitious project of his where he is slowly creating renditions of the Psalms, including commentary, notes and an original poem for each Psalm. He reached out during the Nashville crossover season and asked if I would consider setting his poem for Psalm 73 to music.

Here is his poem with my rendition of it below.

Psalm 73—We Laughed as Loud and as as Wild as We Would

by Andy Patton

Next to the lives we might have had
I can see we’re losing ground.

As for me, my feet almost stumbled
When we juggled for God and everyone laughed.
We tumbled. We were picked last.
We held fast. We slipped back.
We waxed rhapsodic as our losses gained.
We were the kernels crushed before the grain.
We knew the pleasure of hardship
That is not the pleasure of pain.
Our flesh and our hearts sickened.
We were vulnerable, hoping,
Toiling at follies and stricken.
But so what?
It was good.

So what if we found treasure
And left it lying on the ground?
So what if we offered without measure
To whoever was around?
So what if we lent more than we got;
If we didn’t get back the things that we lost;
If we used our best
And they broke the whole lot?
It was good.

So what if we gathered to pray and only bled?
And felt dark crowns twist down on our heads?
We could have kept ourselves from sorrow,
And hoarded today against tomorrow.
We could have avoided all the pain,
But instead, we found the dying
That comes before life is taken up again.
We drank the cup. God filled it up.
It was good.

So what if we failed to guard our time?
And said our piece in simple rhymes,
And laughed as loud
And as wild as we would?
It was good.

So what if we promised
More than there was to give?
So what if we gave more
Than it took to live?
So what if we loved and lost
More than we thought we could?
It was good.
It was good.
It was good.

You find Andy’s post on Psalm 73 with more commentary here.

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In honor of L’Abri. 2016. I forget what song I was sharing.