Notes About The Poem
6/10/2026 for 2026-06-09 Serenity Poetry Contest sponsored by Constance La France
Serenity
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other."
~ one version of the serenity prayer, attributed to Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr
"Do everything with a mind that lets go. If you let go a little you will have a little peace; if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace; if you let go completely you will have complete peace."
~ Thai meditation master, Ajan Chah
"Life is like the seasons. After winter comes the spring." ~ from Cycles, written by Gayle Caldwell, sung by Frank Sinatra
Aspirations, joy, wishes, dreams and hope,
jobs, possessions, lovers, spouses, and friends -
they're gone, and I'd like to hang from a rope,
resigned that that's the way the story ends,
but, I'm not sure that I'm meant to retain
the things some say are granted from above.
Though I feel the disappointment and the pain
when, one by one, I lose the things I love,
Today, punishment and reward combine,
the result of the rivers I have crossed,
and I can't escape nature's grand design,
along with age, so many things are lost.
In the throes of heartbreak, pain, or despair,
I recall the serenity prayer.
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