Poem: Birthday Prayer

Birthday Prayer

Late on the night of your birthday,
long after the cake,
after the warm gifts,
after the dinner and the play,
after the celebration is done,
and everyone save you sleeps;

In the last hour of the night,
as you lay on the sheets,
and let the cool breeze brush your skin,
and you breath

the air fragrant with flowers
you cannot quite recognize,
aware you are living in a time and a place
that is not quite home,
yet not foreign,

in a life unexpected, unwished for,
yet gracious as only God can be,
full of promise and joy,
an adventure as unfamiliar
as the scents that waft on the air.

And you pray,
a new prayer of thanksgiving
in July.

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The picture was taken in the Episcopal Church in Wells, Vermont. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom