Lord forgive me <br />That I have chosen to become a poet <br />Forgive me for what I write <br />The poems of my life <br />Grant me such devotion <br />To write the poems that I love <br />Grant me the love of poetry <br />That must not distract me <br />From tenderness <br />Make my desire last long <br />Make my disillusion short <br />Uproot from me these impure desires <br />From those poems that trouble me <br />Let not some images confuse me <br />Let not some metaphors numb me <br />Let not my dullness sadden me <br />Let your radiance descend upon <br />The modesty of my poems <br />As you once gave radiance <br />To the prophets who cannot speak <br />For themselves <br />Let me be a strong poet <br />Able to love and defend <br />the poems for the <br />women and children and land <br />Grant me the talent to make <br />The poems that they may still <br />Recite and remember <br />Even when I am gone <br />In my weakness as a poet <br />Make me strong <br />To scorn the poems that are not pure <br />To shy away from the fires <br />And flames that do not light <br />The lives of other men <br />And women too.<br /><br />RIC S. BASTASA<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-poet-s-prayer/
