Prayer
Maya Walker
Content Warning: religious questioning
“I need a father. I need a mother. I need some
older, wiser being to cry to. I talk to God, but
the sky is empty.” - Sylvia Plath
Plath says the sky is empty and I
agree. The search for
meaning
lost, left in forgotten
topographies.
They say this too shall pass so
I pray for more
than this, our patience not
a virtue
but a guilty pleasure.
Beginning in water, in blood, do not
mistake
this prayer
for piety, do not mistake
this life for more than temporary
space.
I stare through sky not knowing
which is worse, to be hallowed
or hollowed, to lift
hands in prayer
or surrender.
Begin in water,
end in fire, this emptiness
can hardly be called holy.
call it more,
call it past, for this too
has passed,
overcast, still empty.
older, wiser being to cry to. I talk to God, but
the sky is empty.” - Sylvia Plath
Plath says the sky is empty and I
agree. The search for
meaning
lost, left in forgotten
topographies.
They say this too shall pass so
I pray for more
than this, our patience not
a virtue
but a guilty pleasure.
Beginning in water, in blood, do not
mistake
this prayer
for piety, do not mistake
this life for more than temporary
space.
I stare through sky not knowing
which is worse, to be hallowed
or hollowed, to lift
hands in prayer
or surrender.
Begin in water,
end in fire, this emptiness
can hardly be called holy.
call it more,
call it past, for this too
has passed,
overcast, still empty.
Maya Walker is an avid reader, tea drinker, and lover of words. She is the founder and editor in chief of Fulminare Review as well as an executive editor at Spiritus Mundi Review and a staff writer for Immortal Journal. You can read her work at The Augment Review, Ice Lolly Review, Fifth Wheel Press, and others, or find her at the abyss of ink known colloquially as the Instagram page @maya_whispers_words.