If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it’s enough. ~ Meister Eckhart

Teach me to pray, an age-old request.
We’ve plenty of sample prayers,
fine to memorize and recite, even to read.
And they can say what we want to say.
But they’re not original material,
not my prayers, but someone else’s
and I can’t claim them, can’t rest
on those laurels. I have to do my stuff.
But if I don’t know how, if I don’t know what,
if I can’t come up with words
my normal response is not to.
Not to try, not to learn,
not to pray. But then again
there’s a prayer that’s original,
unique, meaningful for me
here and now, and that’s to say thanks,
to express my gratitude, to be appreciative.
Thank you, God, for teaching me
how to pray.