How to Teach a Child to Pray
Humiliate her at every checkpoint. Replace
the Second Surah with air raids and shelling.
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Reduce everything she knows to rubble.
Bury her younger brother under his school.
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Laugh when she raises her hands in front of her face
and asks your God for peace.
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Surveil her dreams of clean water and fresh bread.
Reduce everything she knows to rubble, again.
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Direct her to ignore the smell of decaying bodies
when bowing down to perform Ruku.
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Strip search her grandparents in the street
let her hold their shame.
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Expect her gratitude for being able to count
on one hand cousins who have one hand.
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Teach her to dread shelters and refugee camps
instead of periods.
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Assume her capacity to forgive will be longer
than her memory.
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Dare her to stand up and repeat
“God is Good!.”
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by Frank X Walker
from Kinfolk.
Poetry Magazine January/February 2026 issue of Poetry.
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