Dead-Letter Office

I am sorry to tell you that your prayer has been judged insincere
and has been sent off to the dead-letter office of prayers
where the angel whose job it is will sort and file it
and close the drawer on its thin helpless squeaking. But—
the good news is, should at some future time you reconsider
and reoffer this prayer with a contrite heart,
the drawer will burst open, the file cabinet explode
the door of the dead-letter office blow off its hinges
and all your dead-letter prayers in one gigantic flock
(like starlings swarming up from a freshly plowed field
or herring back when their schools darkened the waters
and were considered a navigation hazard)
will fly up darkening the sky with their numbers
and with intention as single as a Zen arrow they will
land in God’s lap
and deliver their petitions.