Horatio's prayer

Father, guide and lead me stray
for I stumble forward straight my way
...undeviating, I do not
...notice the pleasant bypaths that

make us this world suprising, nor
the precipice that sinks before.
...O give me ground for next a step
...to stagger walking in my sleep.

from (the final page of) The Empire City, by Paul Goodman, one of those great novels that somehow has become completely forgotten