A PRAYER

A PRAYER

(For Marie)

I’m moved to get down on my knees./ I’m not even sure what is there.---Luisa Igloria, “Rezar”, Via Negativa, 01-08-12

Dark days will always be with us,

but they, too, will pass, like wind

blowing through gloomy rooms: 

look at her smile fleetingly at you

when you hold her to your chest,

the dove-like cooing telling you 

how warm it is to curl into arms

that will always be there to hold

and enfold however cruel days 

become, however bereft of grace

struggling to live becomes; look

at her gaze at you long enough 

to manage another smile before

she looks away and closes her eyes

to sleep feeling you will be there 

when she opens them again still

singing her a lullaby, her smile

never once leaving her tender face. 

It is when you are moved to get

down on your knees and pray

that, if this were your final day, 

you would still have her cuddled

in your arms smiling at what you

have begun to doubt is still there 

holding us all in his steady palms.

---Albert B. Casuga

01-10-12