Prayer of Thanksgiving 9-23-12

Prayer of Thanksgiving 9-23-12:

The table, set with centerpiece,

fine china, silverware -

and food prepared deliciously

with tender loving care -

and hungry eye, I relish this -

this meal, my daily bread -

then fold my hands and bow my head

before my prayer is said.

I do recite it quick and slurred,

but with the best intent -

and now that grace is said and heard,

it is a blessed event.

The phrases I was taught to say

were pressed down deep in me -

but words are empty without thoughts

of pure sincerity.

Yes, just before we eat, we pray,

but there's a place so crude

which moves us closer to the truth -

that others have no food.

It haunts me as I look around, the

visions of the starved -

who wide-eyed blankly stare at me

behind my turkey, carved.

I see their bloated tummies and

the flies around their eyes.

I hear soft moans from babies lips,

the echoes of their cries.

I taste the mush that they call food.

It lingers on my breath.

I feel the tears start down my cheeks.

I smell the stench of death.

I hesitate with my first bite,

I ask myself, "Do I

really care they're teary eyed

and hungry 'til they die?"

I pray that all the "least of these"

are eating well in Heav'n.

Please help me Lord, to understand

the blessings I was giv'n.

So now when I recite my prayer,

as I sit down to feast,

I ask myself if I'm sincere

and thankful in the least.

For that's when I can hear my voice

ascending to His ear.

He knows if I speak empty words

or if I am sincere.

©2012 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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