Like oaks bow down before the wind,
…I come with bended knee:
Almighty God, source of my strength,
…Here’s all I ask of Thee –
Sweet inspiration as a spark,
…The boldness to begin,
The discipline to finish well,
…The kindnesses of men.
Please feed the gift You’ve given me
…(Like moon tends to the tide),
While bringing drought and famine to
…Starve out my quickened pride.
May blessings like the billows roll;
…Let verses fall like dew.
And when it’s time for my last line,
…May I end it with You.
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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2011.
The Bard on the Hill 
Amen to us all!
Wonderful as always!
[…] https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/the-poets-prayer-by-dennis-lange/ […]
Beautiful and compelling. Your comparison in the third stanza: “Please feed the gift you’ve given me (like moon tends to the tide)” is brilliant.
Also, considering the image in the beginning lines, I have a picture that I think you’d love to use if you ever post this again. I think I still have your e-mail from the time you mailed to say I could re-post a poem. I’ll send you a copy of that picture. It’s from a picture website called “craized.com,” and they don’t indicate any need to do anything specific in order to use their photos. I just always give them credit. Sometimes I put the pictures into a photo program and print the credits on the picture itself, but I don’t think I did that with this one.