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Ways in which I pray

There are two ways in which I pray

One

In calm self assurance

when my soul is deep in the miry clay

And yet all this unbeknownst to me

I pray with eloquence with careful attention to form and flow

As ‘twere poetry of thought

The other

When I’m almost under that miry clay

and choking struggling

realizing my helplessness even to breathe

I scream

 “Help!”

No grace, no form, no flow or calm composition

But it is then that my soul has such eloquence

As sends my prayer swiftly upwards

And even angels pause to see whose poetry

Is as sweet and sure as this.

By Annette Hutchinson