<p class="ql-block">《The Fading Star: A Prayer from a Sinner》</p><p class="ql-block">2015</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">I have long feared</p><p class="ql-block">that my sins would return to visit me,</p><p class="ql-block">and the cost is more than I can bear.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">Temperance—</p><p class="ql-block">so often my disguise,</p><p class="ql-block">a cloak for the fear buried deep within.</p><p class="ql-block">For principles are a luxury</p><p class="ql-block">far from reach</p><p class="ql-block">for a sinner man.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">The Lord said:</p><p class="ql-block">“Teeth for teeth, foot for foot”—</p><p class="ql-block">but must I disappoint Him still,</p><p class="ql-block">hiding behind my own shadow</p><p class="ql-block">until the last breath fails to take?</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">Things pass</p><p class="ql-block">just like yesterday when they happened.</p><p class="ql-block">Yet they vanish—</p><p class="ql-block">and will not come back.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">The polar star faints these days,</p><p class="ql-block">still hanging</p><p class="ql-block">in the silent firmament,</p><p class="ql-block">always looking down</p><p class="ql-block">on the souls of the earth,</p><p class="ql-block">giving a guide,</p><p class="ql-block">offering protection.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">That was the first heaven-thing</p><p class="ql-block">Mom taught me</p><p class="ql-block">when I was a child.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">But the great sadness is this:</p><p class="ql-block">the star is not</p><p class="ql-block">as bright</p><p class="ql-block">as before.</p><p class="ql-block">-</p><p class="ql-block">So I pray—</p><p class="ql-block">and pray again—</p><p class="ql-block">in the holy name,</p><p class="ql-block">with Thine kindness,</p><p class="ql-block">for grace</p><p class="ql-block">and peace,</p><p class="ql-block">for the evil to be removed</p><p class="ql-block">from Thy servant,</p><p class="ql-block">bringing forth</p><p class="ql-block">the brave in him once more.</p>