POEM

Prayer

by Jean Toomer 

My body is opaque to the soul.

Driven of the spirit, long have I sought to temper it unto the spirit’s

    longing,

But my mind, too, is opaque to the soul.

O Spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger,

Direct it to the lid of its flesh-eye.

I am weak with much giving.

I am weak the desire to give more.

(How strong a thing is the little finger!)

So weak that I have confused the body with the soul,

And the body with its little finger.

(How frail is the little finger.)

My voice could not carry to you did you dwell in stars,

O spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger . .