Pray for us sinners

Dear God:
Today was a good day. Why can’t all of them be good?
My prayers fall on deaf ears.
You promised you would always give me what I need, just not always what I want.
I need my mom.
But do I really?
Or do I need to grow
Wiser and more patient?
Less judgmental, less reactive?
Do I need to become
A woman in the image
Of your very own mother,
Selfless and true?
Holy Mary,
Pray for me.
Pray for her.
Pray for us.

Cross words

We are united
Against the enemy.
It is Sunday,
and it is printed,
Blocks and clues
bring us together.
A four-letter word.
Slang for safe cracker.
Starts with a Y?
Yegg, she says.
Yegg? I ask.
Yegg, she says.
Huh? I say.
It's a criminal, she says.
How'd you know ? I ask.
Crosswords for years, she says.
And I look at her.
And she knows I am thinking
That she cannot remember
what I said two minutes ago
But she can remember
this obscure little word
and somewhere in there
My mother still lives
And I smile so
my heart
won't burst.