We cry out for peace like a prayer.
We yank weeds on our knees like a prayer.
Rays crisp Renée’s pepper plants to umber;
sprouts speak their final pleas like a prayer.
Old men watch from porches as September burns out;
leaves strip bare, surrender beneath trees like a prayer.
Snowflakes speckle the sky. Lifeless, the children’s angels
lie. Icicles unfreeze like a prayer.
Bethany, don’t bend to the breeze. Begin on your knees,
then stand up, voice up, fists up—use these like a prayer.