Whispered Prayer - Ann Christine Tabaka

I have my own aches and pains.

I have my own needs and wants.

I walked this earth for decades

trying to run past myself,

always standing in the same place.

Eschewed by society

for sins I did not commit.

Chastised for my tenets,

pretty little faces mock.

I grasp the pain,

I taste the tears.

With so much suffering in this world,

how do I dare ask for healing?

It is said that god is

powerful,

almighty,

limitless,

that he can do all things.

Yet who can measure the capacity,

of one who was said to rest

after toiling six days?

We only know,

believe,

what we have been taught.

I traipse past myself

with a weary heart.

Tripping over my own dreams.

I will not look back this time.

So, first I pray for a hurting world,

then add a small whisper for me,

hoping it will be heard.

Previously Published by GloMag, March 2020

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 & 2023 Pushcart Prize in Poetry; nominated for the 2023 Dwarf Stars award of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association; winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year; selected as a Judge for the Soundwaves Poetry Contest of Northern Ireland 2023. Her bio is featured in the “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020” and “2021,” published by Sweetycat Press. She is the author of 16 poetry books, and 1 short story book. She lives in Delaware, USA. She loves gardening and cooking.  Chris lives with her husband and four cats. Her most recent credits are: Sand Hills Literary Magazine, The Phoenix, Eclipse Lit, Streetcake Experimental Writing Magazine, Carolina Muse, Ephemeral Literary Review, The Elevation Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Tangled Locks Journal, Wild Roof Journal, The American Writers Review, Black Moon Magazine, Pacific Review, Pomona Valley Review, West Texas Literary Review.

Website: https://annchristinetabaka.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/christinetabaka 

*(a complete list of publications is available upon request)