Images of refugees from the first Iraq War sparked this poem, "Prayer," by Carolyn Forché. But the poem's themes of longing for safety, of faith and small hope apply to refugees around the world and throughout time.
This poem is from her collection Blue Hour, about which the New Yorker wrote, "The uncertainty of an individual’s survival at any given point in history informs the first part of this volume, which mounts a quiet protest against the atrocities of the last century and insists that 'even the most broken life can be restored to its moments.' "
Sarah Luckadoo reads an introduction to offer context and background on the poet and the poem.
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