Poem: “Petition”

We are all adept
at the loose use of language
flinging words about
like so much confetti.
But intercession
is no casual endeavor, no sweet
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Intercession is deep soul-work.
To intercede is to plead with God
on behalf of another
slipping on another’s skin
standing beneath the canopy
of another’s sin
and asking the
inventor of mercy
to forgive us both.
Daniel modeled the truth for us:
We are all guilty of something
as recently as yesterday,
every one of us, going back to Moses
to Abraham and Sarah
to Adam and Eve.
God sees us for who we are.
To go before him
we must first agree.
Then it is on us to recall
the very nature of this Holy Father,
his splendor, his might,
his glorious grace
proven through the ages.
Only then are we prepared
to pray for another
groaning with as much passion
as we would summon for ourselves.
Dear Abba, please hear our petition
we who are desperate and unworthy
we who are called
by your name.

Daniel 9:1-19

Jacob Lawrence, The migration gained in momentum.

From Glory in the Margins by Nikki Grimes. Copyright 2021 by Nikki Grimes. Used by permission of Paraclete Press.