I pray when all is beyond my wits and my strength
I pray when the little I can buy exceeds all my money
I pray when fathers, friends and lovers failed me
I pray to entities I know not, even of imagination and belief

I pray knowingly that strangers, human or ethereal,
     are not obligated to me, even if I begged them
I pray knowingly that I have no wisdom to know
     what to ask, but only that seemingly good for now

I pray unknowingly if these powerful inhuman beings
     can read my mangled incoherent thoughts
I pray unknowingly if the formulated rituals of my ancients
     of magic, prostrations and sacrifices are effective

I 'll be thankful to gods, demons, angels and even men
     for a blessing is a blessing, and any help, is help indeed
I'll be careful not to be entrapped into constant gratitude
     but only to constantly build my wits, strength and money

Optimism,
     hopelessness' necessary delusion, and
Positivity,
     a fierce front confronting unbearable reality;
Darkness' depths,
     a shield from light's searching searing heat, and
Rather a slave
     to one's own wits and strength, than to truth.

Faith's a gift even as prodigies are gifted
But whereas prodigies are put on a pedestal
Truth's a stranger, exiled from the womb
And life's a harlotry in a foreign land

Dreams, the soul's cathartic sojourns
Bizzare dramas of things avoided,
unacknowledged in consciousness

Of loves lost, fears dreaded, anxieties unresolved,
disappointments ran away from,
victories missed, and failures’ devastations

Of desires suppressed
yet constantly desirous
even separated by death or law or man

Of journeys never travelled
across the impossible chasm
into lands unimaginable

Of evil undisguised,
sheer horrors of men’s wickedness,
that even Satan cringed  

Compelled to experience
the emotions, the terrors, the sweetness
the fulfillment of a life never lived

To confront death in its face and to die
And to go beyond the other side and yet live
And to wake up disturbed, changed, and refreshed

Righteous' presence
     and innocents' innocence
Pleasant fragrance
     the Essence’s essence

Sparrows nest
     in cherub's presence
Leaping loyal dogs
     wagging effervescence
But cats sleep,
     without care, blatant nonchalance

Beauty’s transcendence
     and inviolable permanence
Musical cadence
     in timeless immanence

Elephants' endless patience
     and endurance
Hummingbirds whizzing
     winged iridescence
Orchids blooming
     riotous inflorescence

And monarchs live and die
     in glorious ignorance.

Disobedient in life
Defiant in death
From Sheol escaped
On Earth to roam
Rest for me the fearful wished
But no peace to them
Till my wrong avenged