Aubade for a Coward

I

Every morning I breathe a quiet prayer

“God give me the weakness to turn away.

Let me disguise my hollowness, no flair,

No eloquence permit me. Let me stay

Silent when I can, blended in to air,

Without a word let fear mark what I say.

Let no judgement pass my parched and bloodless lips        

Obliterate my mind, make me eclipse.

II

“Let me hide behind the words of others

Find an opinion dressed in what they say,

Absolve me from utterance, another

Hour be blessed that judgement does not play

Upon my mind, require me to discover

Some hollowed out unlikely disarray

Of vacuous verbs that meaning mangles      

With mental weeds and insignificance entangles.    

III

“Scintillating chromatic zyzzyvae

Fluoresce across the jungle floor, learning

To evade feasting zygodactylae

With speed and camouflage. Perning, turning

To not be seen and yet to feast and play

As I would wish to hide awhile, yearning

For anonymity among the throng

Disguise my emptiness in an empty song.    

IV

“Prince, pray God that is Lord of all, forgive

The silent idiot his silent sins 

Let in your heart an understanding live

Of the weakness that roots and so begins

To pause me, a tacet ineffective,

Show me that every loser always wins

Let me be gutless for every day:

Courage only to hint, but never say.”