Prayer for Weariness

Two things I ask thee, Lord:
Labor, and sleep.
Oh, let the one be hard,
The other deep.
Give me a stubborn soil,
Rock-strewn and wet,
And make me drunk with toil,
Till I forget.

These arms that were not strong
Enough to hold
One woman very long,
Let them grow old,
Bearers of stone and steel
And earth and tree,
Until they cannot feel
A memory.

Once rapture I desired,
Now all I ask
The slumber of the tired,
And then the task.
Toil till I cannot think,
I ask no less.
Then, Heaven, let me drink
Unconsciousness.