Saturday 23 June 2012

Day 2: Prayer


Carol Ann Duffy is one of my favourite poets. Her language is simple but supple and it perfectly slings home the theme of her poems. I love her directness and the unflinching manner of her words. Their rhythm and power.

This poem 'Prayer' is a favourite amongst many people. Here is poetry as consolation, awareness, knowing.  'Some days,although we cannot pray, a prayer utters itself.' And more often that not, that prayer is poetry, the 'sudden gift' of a recognition, a revelation, a truth.

(Read more on Carol Ann Duffy here)


Prayer - Carol Ann Duffy

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they named their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer -
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.


 
(from Mean Time [Anvil, 1994])

2 comments:

  1. I’m very glad to found this website because; it carries awesome and actually good data in favor of readers.

    clover
    www.n8fan.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your blog is absolutely worth to read if anybody comes throughout it. I'm lucky I did because now I've got a whole new view of this. I didn't realize that this issue was so important and so universal. You certainly put it in perspective for me.


    Yurie
    www.imarksweb.org

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you think! To leave a comment - comment as/sign in with your Google ID if you have one, or website or blog address, or if these don't apply, sign in as Anonymous, and leave your name if you like!