Poems (Bibesco)/XVI Prayer

by Elizabeth Bibesco

XVI PRAYER

When I was young I told God what to do,
    And called it prayer.
Even the questions that I asked of you
    I let Him share.

There were so many things He might not see,
    That was my fear—
I told him ways of secret ecstasy,
    He would not hear.

Now that I'm old, I have been taught to see
The unspoilt sweetness that is yesterday.
Without a future man at last is free,
With nought to ask for I have learnt to pray.