Winter Sunrise Prayer

It will be dark ‘til seven or eight or nine

I rose early for the peace, for the quiet.

For what I might call heaven.

For the moonbeam and the firelight

Provide all I need to see to write.

And I wait for the sunrise to peak

Just over the mountains off to the southeast.

This, this is when I think

It’s into this silence I may hear you speak.

And I call to mind all those near to me—

with cancer, need and anxieties—

and so many in this world who are suffering.

My Father in Heaven. Hallowed, your name.

Deliver, Deliver, Deliver

all from pain and shame.