Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Bedtime Hush to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
Before the lamp is dimmed and the doors are locked for night,
I fold my hands and bow my head to thank You for the light.
For the bread upon the table and the roof above my bed,
For the friends who shared a laughter and the words that kindly said.
Forgive the harsh reply I gave and the hurry in my day,
For hearts are quick to stumble, and I lose my patient way.
Keep watch upon my family in each room down the hall,
And every traveller on the road, the great one and the small.
Be a shield to those who work while the rest of us are still,
The nurse, the guard, the baker whose oven is warm until.
Now let my tired thoughts release the worries I have pressed,
And carry me through dreaming till the morning brings me rest.
Amen, and then the darkness comes as gentle as a hand,
And I sleep beneath Your wings in a safe and quiet land.
Poet of Bedtime Hush · Hear it on the channel ↗
Commentary
This is a bedtime prayer in rhyming couplets. It moves from thanks to forgiveness to care for others, and ends in the trust that lets a person sleep.
The speaker folds “hands” and bows “head to thank You for the light,” naming “the bread upon the table and the roof above my bed.” Then comes an honest moment: “Forgive the harsh reply I gave and the hurry in my day.”
The prayer widens to “my family in each room down the hall” and “every traveller on the road,” and asks a shield for “the nurse, the guard, the baker.” It ends by handing over worries and sleeping “beneath Your wings in a safe and quiet land.”