Silent Film Prayer

When I am in love, let me get down on my knees
and hold both hands over my heart.
When I am angry, let me hold my fist in the air
and shake it.

If I am evil, may I twist the ends of my moustache
while my eyes dart back and forth.
If I am pious, let me walk with eyes heavenward
and hands folded at my waist.

When I am sick let me have a thermometer sticking
out of my mouth and a water bottle on my head.
If I am going to swoon, may I place the back of my
hand against my forehead and flutter my eyelids.

When I am down on my luck, may I kick at the dirt
and pull my pockets inside out.
When I am sated, let me sit back in my
chair and rub my stomach in a circular motion.

Let there be piano music following my movements
or the blast of a mighty organ to signal an oncoming train.
For comedy, may there be the sound of a kettle drum when
someone has been punched in the belly.

May I fall asleep instantly with dreams of
flying over New York, piloting my bed like a zeppelin.
May the future find me living on the moon or
burrowing through the center of the earth.

May I live forever in black and white
and never be forgotten, though I am long dead.