Will you hear a wonderous story
About the dark fiend himself
Came down to the maiden Ann
'Answer my riddles or you'll be mine'
"Dark fiend you have no claim on me
For even you belong to God
But I will answer you
In hopes that you will learn"
'What is higher than the tree?'
"The sky and Heaven beyond it"
'What is longer than the Way'
"The story of God's love for Her children"
'What is softer than the silk?'
"A grandmother's love for her grandchild"
'What is deeper than the sea?'
"God's love for Her children"
'Ann, my Ann, you answer wrong
You cannot give the same answer twice'
"You cannot change the rules in the middle of the game
Truth sometimes gives the same answer twice"
'Ann, my Ann, you answer wrong'
Said the dark fiend himself
'It's Hell that's deeper than the sea
Hell, and Hell belongs to me'
"I do not preach of Hell
I preach of God and God alone
I preach of God's deepest love
And it's with God that my hope lies"
Now Ann she stood unafraid,
"Do you have more riddles for me?"
'What is sharper than the thorn?'
"Desire for things you cannot have"
'What is louder than the horn?'
"Thunder that comes from the sky"
'What is redder than the end of the day?'
"God knows redder and bluer and greener
And deeper and redder than anything"
'Ann my Ann you answer wrong'
Said the dark fiend himself
'It's sin that's redder than the end of the day
Sin and sin belongs to me'
"I do not put my hopes in sin
I put my hopes in God alone
I preach of God's love
And it's with God that my hope lies"
'Maiden Ann answer me one more
What is worse than woman was?'
"I am woman all myself
I do not think that I'm that bad
A lot of things are worse than me
Perhaps you may rephrase that now"
'Maiden Ann answer me then
What is worse than all that sin
In all the deepest prison cells?'
"Desire for things you cannot have
And that's the hunger that drives them all"
'Ann my Ann you answer wrong
It's me the dark fiend himself
I am worse than all that sin
In all the deepest prison cells'
"Do you take pride in that?
I would rather take shame
I do not preach of the dark fiend
I preach the words of The Buddha wise"
And so the dark fiend he cried,
'Three times you have answered wrong!
Ann, my Ann, you belong to me!'
But Ann she stood still and strong
The dark fiend he grabbed at her
And found himself grabbing at air
"You see dark fiend, you are but a shadow
A shadow has no claim on me"
And with that the shadow it was gone
And Ann stood alone upon the road
And Ann walked calmly into town!
And Ann preached there of God alone!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson