Petition

Let us pray
For small boys who roll their taut bellies and make their mothers laugh.
For girls who squeeze air from their fathers’ cheeks and giggle at the sound.
For the gardener who lived here first and staggered the blooms in the yard.

Let us pray
For ducks swimming in the front-yard puddle after the flood.
For expectant robins who press fresh moss into their nests.

Let us pray
For the old man who measures flour so his wife believes she can still bake.
For grown-up children who can’t find their place
And for their babies who need them to try.

Let us pray
For the dying neighbor who sips water from a spoon
And for her friend who brings poetry and pie a bit too late.

Let us pray
For the young who believe this world is all good and for those who’ve learned it isn’t.
For the flame inside that sustains us.
For slow-burning logs
And for mothers who toast marshmallows with their sons long after dark.