The Word That Is A Prayer by Ellery Akers
The Word That Is A Prayer
Ellery AkersOne thing you know when you say it:
all over the earth people are saying it with you;
a child blurting it out as the seizures take her,
a woman reciting it on a cot in a hospital.
What if you take a cab through the Tenderloin:
at a street light, a man in a wool cap,
yarn unraveling across his face, knocks at the window;
he says, Please.
By the time you hear what he’s saying,
the light changes, the cab pulls away,
and you don’t go back, though you know
someone just prayed to you the way you pray.
Please: a word so short
it could get lost in the air
as it floats up to God like the feather it is,
knocking and knocking, and finally
falling back to earth as rain,
as pellets of ice, soaking a black branch,
collecting in drains, leaching into the ground,
and you walk in that weather every day.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Practicing the Truth by Ellery Akers, published by Autumn House Press, 2015. (Available direct from Autumn House Press • Also on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“Winner of the 2014 Autumn House Press Poetry Contest, selected by Alicia Ostriker. Akers’ collection of lyric poems celebrates our everyday world while not glossing over the pain suffered by those who inhabit it. These beautifully crafted, quiet poems are simultaneously powerful to read.” (Source)
ABOUT ELLERY AKERS
Poet, children’s writer, and naturalist Ellery Akers earned a BA at Harvard University and an MA at San Francisco State University. She is the author of three poetry collections: Swerve: Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance (2020); Practicing the Truth (2015), which won the Autumn House Poetry Prize; and Knocking on the Earth (1988), which was chosen for the Wesleyan New Poets series. Her work has been featured in the New York Times Magazine; former US Poet Laureate… (more)
Read more poems by Ellery Akers • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Website • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: prayer • compassion • need • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
