‘Evening Prayer’ by Sandy Stert Benjamin

Budding darkness, in your starkness, void of noise and light,
deliver me from what I see ’fore day turns into night.
Guide me through the peaceful sea of dreamers far and wide,
as welcome shores reopen doors to once-untarnished side.

I yearn for trees and tranquil breeze; rich emerald greens and blues,
and clean fresh air with land to spare for panoramic views.
I need to know the vast rain-bow is still within our reach:
o’er flowered fields and crops that yield; unsullied stretch of beach.

Mend damage done in search of fun, and progress born from greed;
We stripped away our sole resource – the only one we need.
Our planet’s frail, a tragic tale of overstepping bounds–
now Earth fights back for what it lacks as tragedy surrounds.

We can’t compete with flooded streets, earthquakes and wind and fire;
and so it seems the planet deems it wants to soon expire.
It’s not too late to contemplate the damage we’ve inflicted–
and if we try, our rallying cry may thwart what is predicted.

I pray the prayer and dream the dream:
A world healed by human kindness;
that we’re not too late to change our fate
and emerge from years of blindness.

Sandy Stert Benjamin is a writer and poet living in California.