Socialist Prayer
By Margaret Haile
(Contemporary American poet. In “The Vanguard.”)
Give us this day our daily bread, O God!
Not for my bread alone I selfish pray.
Such prayer would never reach Thy loving ear;
Such prayer my human lips refuse to say.
I pray for those whom Thou hast given me here—
All men and women to be one with me,—
To soothe, sustain, and comfort, love and cheer,
And draw in loving service nearer Thee.
My sister suffers in a garret bare,
My brothers labor and grow faint and pine;
My baby wails—for food! I cannot bear it God,
For all the babies in the world are mine!
Father, and they are Thine! I claim Thine aid;
Thou needs must help us in our righteous cause!
Make strong our hands to tear Oppression down,
And build a world according to Thy laws!
I cannot eat my daily bread alone,
Give none to me if these cannot be fed.
With them I stand or fall, for we are one.
Father, give all of us our daily bread.