This is Episode 123 of Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's poem is "Prayer" by Faisal Mohyuddin.

Faisal Mohyuddin is a writer, artist, and educator. The child of immigrants from Pakistan, he is the author of the acclaimed collection, The Displaced Children of Displaced Children.

He is an educator adviser and master practitioner for Narrative 4, a global not-for-profit which aims to create a global community where young people learn and lead in the classroom and the community with curiosity, deep listening, and imagination. He also teaches high school English and creative writing at Northwestern University in Illinois.

The first thing to say about this poem is its shape on the page. I encourage you to open this link to see how "Prayer" is laid out.

There is no punctuation, just space between the words and between the lines, and in some ways this space is just as important as the words themselves.

Those words outline the tradition and the lived experience of Muslim prayer, but prayer, I’ve come to believe, is not restricted within the boundaries of whatever religion you practise. Prayer is a universal connection to oneness and universality, and comes in many forms. For example, check out Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, also called "Prayer" but which comes at this experience from a complete different angle, in Episode 36 of this podcast.

You can read "Prayer" by Faisal Mohyuddin here.

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For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠.

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Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com