Poetry by Willie Smith
I pray to the god within
for strength. I pray to the god within
for deliverance from self-pity, and
my vindictive spite. I pray to the god
within for the daring to be humble
and the agility to love myself.
You people my dreams.
My familiar remembrances you shape.
You are the family my waking life
never quite joins, and you
must accept and comfort me,
for no one else can.
I pray to the god within
for a bag of mirrors each
a trifle too small to hold my whole image.
I pray now this morning for the god within
to go away and leave me alone.
Vita Brevis Press. 