How Much I Care

Wait—
Envied skill.
Though learning, I see
I’ll always an apprentice
Be.
Hush,
And be still.
I have heard your prayer.
In time I’ll prove how much I
Care.

Copyright © 2018 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Scansion:
Sonnetina Cinque
Two quintets, usually in iambic tetrameter or pentameter, but can be any form.
May be rhymed or unrhymed. If rhymed, only 2 rhyming sounds per stanza.
The first quintet presents a question or statement; the second answers the question or counters the statement.

This one is a Double Oddquain with rhyme scheme xabxbxacxc.
Not all oddquains rhyme, but I chose to use a spattering of rhyme for this one.

This poem was borne out of a conversation with a dear friend, in which we admitted to one another that neither of us has learned as much patience as we thought we had. My friend said, “I am a master of nothing,” which led me to write “I’ll always be an apprentice.” But since the Sonnetina Cinque presents a question or statement followed by an answer or counter-statement, I closed the poem with a message from God, telling me to continue to wait quietly, for in due time my prayer will be answered.

I’m like the child who asks for a bicycle in the middle of summer. My parents hear the request and start saving their money to get me a really good bike. Their intention is to give it to me at Christmas. When the money has been saved, they make the purchase and hide the bike away for the appointed time. I don’t know it, but my request has already been granted; they are simply waiting for the right time to give it to me.

I believe many of our answers to prayer are just like that. God hears and answers them immediately, but sometimes He waits for the perfect time to deliver on the promise. The reasons for the delay are as unique as you and I are, but they are always legitimate. If for no other reason (and I have no doubt that there are other reasons), God desires to teach us to trust Him and wait quietly for the answer. Patience is a skill that is in short supply these days. How good it is to find someone who has learned to wait.