The Romantic’s Prayer

Help me to lay aside my glitzy schemes,
My starry ifs , my svelte velleities;
Write off the wasted seasons, the regrets,
The fantasies of fame, the stubborn dreams
Of lotteries won and weeks of sunlit ease
On the Riviera, trips on private jets,
“Adventure and romance,” those heady themes!
Help me to treasure simple pieties,
Resolves to which I’ve always said, “Not yet!”
Let me retrieve the rich, rejected graces,
The chances lost to be with children, wife,
And find fulfillment in the homey places.
Lord, reconcile me with my life.