Reading the Newspaper With St. Jude

By Clara Blair

I wrote another letter today
To the editor of the paper.
I needed to do
Something.

Anguish and anger
Attack the joy I feel
For the many gifts
In my life.

If I prayed to you,
I would ask only
Hope for the hopeless.
Is that not a tiny boon?
The stubborn comfort
That things will be better,
Pain and loss be eased,
Cruelty vanish
From the daily tales
Of the human drama.

O patron saint
Of hopeless causes,
I wish I could trust
In the promise
Of your aid.

©2004 Clara Blair