Lord, help me use the gift You gave
To show the world what I can see
That other men might overlook
In field, river, grass, and tree.

Let me show in different light
The concepts just discerned in part,
To bring to surface meanings deep,
So they abide in every heart.

Help me use my judgment not,
But Yours in virtues just and true .
So when they read the words I write,
They'll know they're not from me, but You.

And Lord, before I say Amen,
One more petition shall I raise.
May verse of old I not restate,
And each work better yesterday's.

Copyright © 1997 by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

Publications: St. Augustine, FL: The Eternal Flame, The Armadillo Poetry Press, 1997

Author's Note: Poems viewed here are the latest versions and are not necessarily word-for-word as published.