I CANNOT PRAY TODAY

[MIRIAM JACOB]

I CANNOT PRAY TODAY


I cannot pray today; and so
I’ll simply stand to see
The swaying trees bend to the breeze,
And beg their liturgy.

I cannot pray today; and so
I’ll stay up late until
The words are written on the moon,
That’s waxing- blank and still.

I cannot pray today and so,
I’ll simply stand and hear
The barn-owl shriek the strangled sound
That makes my feelings clear.

I cannot pray today; and so
I’ll simply stand and wait
For words to blaze in stuttering stars
To hurl at heaven’s gate.

I cannot pray today; and so
I’ll simply kneel and say,
“I need your help, O sovereign Lord,
I cannot pray today.”

I thought I couldn’t pray today
But found that all along,
God took my sighs, my hopeless cries
And turned them into song!


© Pauline Griffiths