LET MERCY RAIN

Now I lay me down to weep;

I pray, perchance, for rest in sleep,

Where demons lurk beyond the dreams,

And stark reality's thin, it seems,

Where fears seem sure to win the fight.

How glad I am for cloak of night

Where no one sees the salted tears

Born of way too many years,

But then I think of Calvary,

The place of skulls where tears flowed free,

As Jesus died. Yet he would rise

And come to stand before their eyes.

While nightmares of my toil and tares

Play in midnight’s wide-eyed stares

Sleep would linger as a tease,

But granting no repose or ease.

Until I pray. “My God,” I say,
“Let Your mercy rain today

“And peace come unto me. Amen”

In faith, I close my eyes again.

                        --Monty Wheeler