PoetryPrayer

Will It Pray?

I feel some kind of spirit move me,
There’s something I have got to say.
Could be complaint or comedy;
I’ll blurt it out either way.
I’ll make sure the kids don’t hear me,
Wait until the prudes go away-
Then inspiration strikes me
And I ask, Will it pray?

Can I take these silly sentences,
Can I make them talk to God?
Do I think he’d laugh along with me
And give me a wink and nod?
Would it sound completely natural
Or as a prayer would it be odd?
Perhaps I’d better think again:
My spirit may be flawed.

I feel a song well up inside me,
There’s something I have got to sing.
It’s got a catchy melody,
It’s got guitar solos that zing,
It’s got a lot of sex appeal,
It’s got guns and drugs and bling-
Then there’s a catch in my voice:
Will it hymn? Ah, that’s the thing.

Can I take these rhythmic rocking rhymes,
Can I make them praise to God?
Do I think he’d sing along with me
And shake his spiritual bod?
Would it sound completely natural
Or as a prayer would it be odd?
Perhaps I’d better think again:
My spirit may be flawed.

I feel like the spirit is moving me,
There’s something I have got to do.
Don’t really want anyone to see,
It’s something for me, not you.
I can’t help it; it’s good for me;
Okay, I know that’s not true.
Can I do this in Jesus’ name?
Will it say to him, thank you?

Can I take each little thing I do,
Can I make it thanks to God?
Do I think he’d work along with me
With loins girt and feet shod?
Would it sound completely natural
Or as a prayer would it be odd?
Perhaps I’d better think again:
My spirit may be flawed.

Kenneth O'Shaughnessy

Kenneth O'Shaughnessy

A Northerner by upbringing, Kenneth has lived in the South since his (first) college days. After returning to college, he began to do more than just dabble with writing, and has self-published a children's picture book, a middle-reader's book, and several collections of poetry. Baptized in the Roman Catholic church, raised in the fundamentalist Baptist church, and having spent time in the Reformed Baptist church, Kenneth settled down in the Eastern Orthodox church in 2006.

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