Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.
—Rabindranath Tagore
If I pray, which I seldom do,
but if I do, let me not pray
to be sheltered from dangers,
nor let me pray to be fearless
when facing them. Fear is part
of this human bouquet, as fragrant
a bloom as gratitude.
And it seldom seems to work,
anyway, this premeditation of prayer.
Prayers seem to rise on their own,
like smoke from a volcano no longer latent or
like steam from a cup of mango Ceylon.
But if I might suggest to myself a prayer,
let it be this, though I do not know
who I say it to: Thy will be done.
I like how you take the opening quote apart with the opening of the poem. My prayer would by, “Thy will or won’t be done.” :>)