Prayer #34: In One Ear ... And Stay There

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” -- Robert McCloskey

Prayer #34: In One Ear ... And Stay There

In one ear and out the other --
Why can't words just stay there?
How am I supposed to learn
If they all turn into air?

I hear the phrases and the voice,
But don't absorb intent.
No wonder, then, confusion reigns
When my ears are fickle vents.

The trick, I've heard, is not to hear,
And listen hard instead.
A simple concept, to be sure --
Yet harder done that said.

So dear Lord, I turn to you
To close my mouth, not mind --
Perhaps I'll even heed You more
And then respond in kind.

Until then, may the whistling wind
Between my ears die down.
Silence amplifies the truth --
I want to hear the sound.


Amen.