Whatever there is
To be Prayed to: Hear us.²
They who Kneel & Chant,
Prevail passions to control.³
We cause Fountains at our prayers
From the dry ground to spring forth!⁴
We Pray working—
Pray learning, planning, doing—
Pray creating, teaching, reaching—
We Pray to focus thoughts, still fears,
And to strengthen our Purpose—⁵
We’re not praying—we’ve
Become the Prayer.⁶
God grows above—so those
Who pray, Horizons must Ascend—⁷
We look into the fair open face of Heaven,
Breath prayers full in the smile of the blue firmament:⁸
We pronounce Amen through choirs
Infolded to the outmost clouds—⁹
Praying—heaven is Opened!¹⁰
¹ Michael Wasson, To Memorize the Continuous Lines of Your Bones
² Laura Hershey, Sending a Message
³ Christopher Smart, Song to David
⁴ John Milton, Samson Agonistes
⁵ Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
⁶ Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
⁷ Emily Dickinson, My Period Had Come for Prayer
⁸ John Keats, Sonnet: “To One Who Has Been Long in City Pent”
⁹ Wallace Stevens, The Comedian as the Letter C
¹⁰ Luke 3:21 (King James)