Beyond all Riches


He who once was rich grew poor and wept,
    the sky looked ragged in the gutter’s mire;
his name that was a flower on men’s tongues,
    vanished with all its fragrance in the night.

Now no more wealth, no more praise and glory,
    the goals he strove for all his living days.
In faith and in repentance,
    now the only thing he longs for is: a friend.