Prayers at 4

Bill SimmonsJanuary 28, 2021

On hearing a baby cry
I lost myself on myself
60 years ago, the horror
I was born knowing,
Knowing existence is brutal,
Thoughts chaotic; hate and
Desperation, all I knew.
Somehow I got Memory,
And I knew this wasn’t right.
I would stand out in the mallows
And cow pastures, arms and eyes
Opened wide, crying, praying:
“God, why am I here?
Why did You put me here?
This is the wrong house.
I don’t know these people.
I don’t belong here.
They don’t want me.
Who am I?”
Then I’d shudder and walk
Back to the house hoping
No one, except God, heard me.

Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons writes and lives in Carroll, Iowa. He conducts the poetry group in Carroll and started a writers’ group with Des Moines Area Community College instructors in Boone, Iowa.

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