#BigRead2014 has been making recordings of people reading Stephen Cherry's Barefoot Prayers.
Today I read "Evensong" - one of my favourite poems from the collection.
As the sunlight loses its strength,
and the shadows stretch to the east,
so our weary minds seek rest.
We wish the day had been longer,
that we might have given more
where less had not been enough.
We long to have another chance
to do
the same again, without mistake,
without hesitation or lack of conviction.
Our day seems pallid, pale and underused;
opportunity became apparent only too late.
the moment passed too quickly for us;
once again we were too dull.
We look forward to a rest of depth,
a still and noiseless vacancy.
We fear, yet hope for a revealing dream
but dread the nightmare that accuses and alarms.
Give us, we pray, our daily rest,
that we might live tomorrow better than today.
But teach us, first, to say that while not perfect,
this day was, in the end, okay.