Rev Michael Barnes, 27/1/19
Prayer Reflection
Who made the swan and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has just flung herself out of the grass,
who is eating sugar out of my hand,
moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down
gazing around with her enormous, complicated eyes.
Now, she lifts her pale forearms and washes her face.
Now, she snaps her wings open and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention.
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adapted from Mary Oliver’s poem, The Summer Day