A Prayer for the Dying
Heads bow above the burning
and petition stars that wink amends—
fireflies over fields of dying iris.
Ice is spilling to the brine
and mayflies soon to bloom
like a plague of winter flowers.
Immobile, hushed, still they stay
their courses under swords,
waiting with palms outstretched
like Jesus begging thorn and nail
or at the very least
a bright bouquet of ruination.
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Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 18 sec read
- 9 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXX AXX XXX XXA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 361 |
Words | 63 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3 |
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"A Prayer for the Dying" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/64707/a-prayer-for-the-dying>.
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