I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all —

glad my reading of Mr Gloucester in Mr Shakespeare’s play was liked so much by that paper —

yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,

I’d rather read 5 words that would go in a flier about throwing bottles away,

that by my voice I might teach others also,

if this will help others understand,

than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue —

than 10,000 in the tongue of 400 years ago.

…

Aidan Baker is a retired librarian living in Cambridge, England.  His
poems have appeared in numerous outlets printed and online, notably
the magazine _Orbis_ and projects from the writers’ group 26
Characters.  Twitter @AidanBaker

(Bible reference 1 Corinthians 14. 18-19, Authorised Version; other lines made using Up-goer Five Text editor http://bit.ly/1lfezKI )