Three Prayers – poetry by Gerald Wagoner

Prayer One

Divine 
Hymnia,
by whose 
grace go I:
Grace me,
undeserving,
elderly man,
no better, no 
worse than 
most, help 
me to sing 
songs to
to the wind 
by whose 
grace go I. 




Prayer Two

Divine 
Hymnia,
by whose 
grace go I:
Teach me 
songs of 
the wind.
Teach me 
to breathe,
to whisper
in tall grass,
to rattle the
ripe barley.




Prayer Three

Divine Hymnia, 
by whose 
grace go I:
Teach me
the songs of
thanks giving
that I may be
thankful for
the wheeling 
years I wailed
my way into,
and by whose 
grace go I,
this old man.

Gerald Wagoner‘s childhood was divided between Eastern Oregon and Montana where he was raised under the doctrine of benign neglect. With a BA in Creative Writing, Gerald pursued the art of sculpture, and eventually left the Northwest to study. He earned an MFA in sculpture from SUNY Albany, and moved to Brooklyn, NY in 1982. Gerald exhibited regularly and taught Art and English for the NYC Department of Education. He currently concentrates on writing poems.