By Flora Delmis (Venezuela)
Date: 14 July 1999

My Prayer

Lord, I only asked you for one thing: to love!
So, I turned my asking into poetry.
I, unrequited, cried "love, love", from inside a rose.
Love came, Lord,
But then my heart died from the pain.
Pain, Pain, Lord!
From the thorns of the rose.
So, I turned my pain into poetry.
The pain went away,
And I was left with a wound
That bleeds, sometimes; 
Sometimes I forget.
Forgetting, Lord, forgetting!
So, I turned my forgetfulness into poetry;
But longing, Lord! 
Longing to love again
Breaks out within me sometimes,
Asking that love return.
But this time,
Love without pain, without wounds, without forgetfulness.
Such a love, is all I want.
So, now, praying,Lord! Begging you....
I turn my begging into poetry.