if i pray

If I pray
let me pray longing
as if my solitary lover
kissed me singing
in a dream
and I awakened with wings—
breathless--
to find her awakened,
winged,
smiling,
deathless.

Disrobe modesty
in favor of honesty.
Let my prayer be your
blest caress,
my mess
wrested from my
wretched fingers.
Let me rest in peace—
to dream
undressed,
abed,
aflight
with you.

If I pray
let me sway
unafraid,
as if I am made to play.
Let me fade this way.



If I Pray
a poem by Troy Cady