A Prayer at Day’s End

lillian

As the sun sets on this day
may we pray to remember
the good that surrounds us,
the good that can be.

Help us to find our way
to a kinder world.
May each of us
contemplate sameness.

Our sameness. Our humanity.
May leaders from all countries
all religions, all ethnicities,
strive for gentle caring.

May we look in the mirror
eyes and hearts open,
and find each other.

Written today for Open Link Night at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. In today’s world, with so much strife, division, and warring factions, I thought it important to offer this prayer.

dVerse will go live today from 3 to 4 PM EST. Folks from around the globe are invited to post a poem and read it aloud or simply to come and listen. A link will be provided at 3 PM EST HERE to join us on video and audio for one hour. We will do the same on Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM EST. Would love to have you join us. The more the merrier!

Photo from sunset in San Diego some years ago. The photo feels peaceful and serene to me….and somehow the sun and the rolling hills in the background remind me of hope for a new day.

38 thoughts on “A Prayer at Day’s End”

  1. VJ's avatar VJ November 16, 2023 / 12:53 pm

    Amen, Lillian

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  3. Gillena Cox's avatar Gillena Cox November 16, 2023 / 4:00 pm

    Indeed

    much🖤love

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  4. merrildsmith's avatar merrildsmith November 16, 2023 / 4:08 pm

    I don’t pray, but I certainly feel this, especially the beautiful final stanza.

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  5. Oloriel's avatar Oloriel November 16, 2023 / 4:14 pm

    Beautiful poem; I will take the liberty to read it out loud and replace the prayer part with affirmation like :” WE WILL strive for gentle caring” . Thank you for sharing this!

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    • lillian's avatar lillian November 19, 2023 / 2:15 pm

      Yes….a wonderful way to read it — shifting to affirmation!

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  7. Ali Grimshaw's avatar Ali Grimshaw November 16, 2023 / 7:52 pm

    I hope your words of love will seep into each reader and be carried out into the world. Beautiful.

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  8. Ordinary Person's avatar Ordinary Person November 16, 2023 / 8:06 pm

    A very beautiful message that we all need to hear. Especially now.

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  9. sdtp33's avatar sdtp33 November 16, 2023 / 8:34 pm

    Lovely poem, Lillian, exactly the message we need at the moment.
    JIM

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  10. Frewin55's avatar Frewin55 November 17, 2023 / 3:29 am

    Our sameness often manifests in banal ways, when watching documentaries on far flung places I notice the branded T-shirts people wear, or the Coca-Cola dispenser in the background or the ubiquitous TV sets. Colonialism, political, cultural and economic, not withstanding these things remind me that we are more similar than not and even those who live really different lives like hunter-gatherers, they too reveal their human similarities if the documentaries focus on them as people. A great poem Lillian…

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    • lillian's avatar lillian November 19, 2023 / 2:18 pm

      Thank you, Andrew. Your thoughtful reply is most appreciated!

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    • lillian's avatar lillian November 19, 2023 / 2:19 pm

      Is it that streak for independence that becomes belligerence and conceit and a need to have “others” set apart from us and if they’re set apart from us, they are somehow not as good as us?

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  15. kim881's avatar kim881 November 18, 2023 / 8:05 am

    If enough of us repeat your words, Lill, I hope we get the result we are praying for.

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  17. Truedessa's avatar Truedessa November 18, 2023 / 11:04 am

    Beautifully stated…a prayer of hope

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian's avatar lillian November 19, 2023 / 2:22 pm

      Thank you! And again, so sorry for the mix-up on Mr. Linky.

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