Poem of the Week - Prayer

Prayer

I ask you this:
Which way to go?
I ask you this:
Which sin to bear?
Which crown to put
Upon my hair?
I do not know,
Lord God,
I do not know.
– Langston Hughes, Selected Poems (2020), publ. Serpent’s Tail

Hughes’ poems have an almost lyrical or song-like quality to them, influenced as he was by the Harlem jazz scene. This is one of his simpler poems but still worth considering as you go about your week; each choice we make can have desirable and undesirable consequences. The trick to choosing the best outcome is confidence.