the prayer of a righteous man

to a God who hears his longing heart

a want is whispered wistfully

like carefree wishes in candlelight

to a God who hears his longing heart

his fleeting cries are softer still

like carefree wishes in candlelight

the truth secured by silence kept

his fleeting cries are softer still

a deep desire revealed to none

the truth secured by silence kept

lifted high above to an ear not seen

a deep desire revealed to none

the prayer of a righteous man

lifted high above to an ear not seen

a want is whispered wistfully

This is called a Malayan Pantoum. A new friend introduced me to this form from a book called Room to Write by Bonni Goldberg. Goldberg says, “It is a poetic form in which all the lines in the poem repeat themselves. This means you are responsible for asserting every line twice; nothing new may be said without responding in some way to what has come before it…Writing a pantoum is a way to dance with form and let it lead.” You can also read more about pantoums here.

This is my submission to the Warrior’s Poet Circle. The prompt was “Hidden in God.” Read other submissions here.