He mutters in an empty room...

A short poem

He mutters in an empty room;
For mercy begs, pity appeals;
On knees unfit for bending kneels,
His voice absurd amidst the gloom,
Which lit by bedside lamp reveals

No paracletes and no St. Pauls,
But oxymora of despair:
The unbeliever hard at prayer,
The pity of the bare white walls,
The mercy of the voiceless air.