Leave A Prayer

During summer Saturday walks, I notice the intricate design of flowers, The majestic beauty that seems To magically materialize Before my eyes And I smile. Saturday evening downtown in the city, I study the lonely men in seedy bars And the homeless men roaming the streets Like rickety cars, And I feel the sadness of human defeat. Sunday mornings I retreat to a parish church Where a widow kisses the hand of a priest And a grandmother scolds her granddaughter For behaving inappropriately but with maternal sweetness And then they embrace. In every direction I turn my face, I try to observe the sadness and the joy, The victory and the demise, The saintliness and the criminal intent, I live my life in every respect As a philosopher and a poet And one day I do expect I’ll die alone but leave a prayer.