This morning I will sing how grand you are.
My serenade is a twitter in this cosmic concert.
Where bird song and leaf rustle and star scintle
Say more and more beautifully than I.

Six strings, one voice, three chords, twelve bars.
A paltry sum, a widow’s mite of music.
Grand you are. Full of wonder I am.
Humming for a hook to hang my hymn.

I meant to sing of you but find I’m talking about myself.
A mite on the hippo’s back squeaking about mitey things.
Squeezing the heavenly hippo into buggy proportions.
The star performer in our flea circus.

Somewhere out there you reside in divinity.
Intimate. Cold like space. Hot like the sun.
Adon ‘olam. Asher malakh. Adon ‘olam. Asher malakh.
Adonai li. Adonai li. Adonai li v’lo ira.

The final couplet comes from the Adon ‘Olam.

Eternal Lord who reigns supreme.
The Lord is near I will not fear.

My favorite setting continues to be the version of the Jewish congregation in Uganda. You can hear their version at the end of this page: The Committee to Save Ugandan Jewry.