Prayer, 1943

by Laura Foley

Dad and his fellow prisoners

crouched under a shed,

its roof a sieve

of shrapnel holes

allowing rain

they didn’t notice

any more than hunger,

in their concentration

on pawns, queens, bishops,

rooks they carved

from discarded

toothbrush handles—

from their mouths,

to God’s ears.

* * * * *

"Prayer, 1943" appears in Laura Foley's chapbook, WTF (CW Books). 

Laura Foley is the author of six poetry collections, including, most recently, WTF and Night Ringing. Her poem “Gratitude List” won the Common Good Books poetry contest and was read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac. Her poem “Nine Ways of Looking at Light” won the Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest, judged by Marge Piercy. A palliative care volunteer in hospitals, with an M.A. and a M. Phil. in English Lit. from Columbia University, she lives with her partner, and three big dogs among the hills of Vermont.