Praying for the Children of Longing by Paula Meehan

Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Grant us the clarity of ice
The comfort of snow
The cool memory of trees
Grant us the forest’s silence
The snow’s breathless quiet

For one moment to freeze
The scream, the siren, the knock on the door
The needle in its track
The knife in the back

In that silence let us hear
The song of the children of longing
In that silence let us catch
The breath of the children of longing

The echo of their voices through the city streets
The streets that defeated them
That brought them to their knees
The streets that couldn’t shelter them
That spellbound them in alleyways
The streets that blew their minds
That led them astray, out of reach of our saving
The streets that gave them visions and dreams
That promised them everything
That delivered nothing
The streets that broke their backs
The streets we brought them home to

Let their names be the wind through the branches
Let their names be the song of the river
Let their names be the holiest prayers

Under the starlight, under the moonlight
In the light of this tree

Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Theme(s)

• Loss
• Grief
• Addiction

Poetic Techniques

• Personification
• Anaphora
• Sibilance

Rhyme + Structure

• Rhyming couplet “The needle in its track / the knife in the back”
• 9 stanzas
• 36 lines

Imagery

• Christmas tree, City streets - dingy laneways, Nature - forest, Snow, River, Ice and Trees

Tone + Mood

• Spiritual
• prayer like
• hopeful
• reflective

Symbolism

• Sap could refer to fresh meaning recent but also could symbolise tears
• Christmas - family, happiness, joy, sharing + caring and for some it’s a bleak time