A Prayer for my Wife
July 5, 2014
It rained all night, yet in between the claps
Of harried wind and blowing lights, and lightning snaps
I comforted my trembling Hennessy
And prayed with her for friends and enemies.
We have them all, and all we have is them
To ground reality, preserve it from mayhem;
You slept, and as you slept I summoned those
Angelic wings to shield you from your woes.
I prayed and walked for you an hour or more
As sea-winds screamed a blast throughout the town,
And lightning matched the fireworks of the night
When earlier at anchor we gazed at awesome sights.
The boat swayed gently ‘round its mooring firm
Our dogs and friends watched fireworks break the gloom
Of Biscayne’s Fourth, the night before the day
When you and my beloved mother arrived to stay.
Today’s the fifth, the fifth day of July
A noble day, with famous folks thereby:
Georges Pompidou, Gromyko, Torpedoes Farragut,
And noted Dolly, our first cloned sheep begot.
Yet for these, I would quite quickly trade them all
For just a smile from you, a nod, a kindly gesture small
Remind me of my mother, born today
Like you so close, and she so far away.
