Prayer – a poem by J.S. Absher

Prayer


Prayer is the siphon dipped into a well, 
the water suctioned up to revive the flowers, 
a bridge hanging over grief, a sleeping pill 
and the sleepless night’s aching tooth, the sour
taste of told lies, a pin-light in a mine,
the unrepentant’s agony of self-pity
in a waste of shame, a torch of knotty pine 
dazzling the eyes, a lock that’s hard to jimmy, 
fasting’s brother, sister of broken heart
beyond healing, an inarticulate groan 
of sorrow, earth and heaven achieving two-part
harmony, the lost child’s weeping for home,
a rope ladder dangling for the wary sinner, 
a garden that flowers only when you enter. 

J.S. Absher (www.js-absher-poetry.com ) is a poet and independent scholar. His fourth book of poetry, Skating Rough Ground, was published by Kelsay Books in 2022. His work has won awards from the NC Poetry Society, BYU Studies Quarterly, and the journal Dialogue, and has been nominated for three Pushcart prizes.