How to Teach a Child to Pray

By Frank X Walker
Humiliate her mother at every checkpoint. 
Replace the Second Surah with air raids and shelling.

Reduce everything she knows to rubble.
Bury her younger brother under his school.

Laugh when she raises her hands in front of her face 
and asks your God for peace.

Surveil her dreams of clean water and fresh bread. 
Reduce everything she knows to rubble, again.

Direct her to ignore the smell of decaying bodies 
when bowing down to perform Ruku. 

Strip search her grandparents in the street
—let her hold their shame.

Expect her gratitude for being able to count 
on one hand cousins who have one hand.

Teach her to dread shelters and refugee camps 
instead of periods. 

Assume her capacity to forgive will be longer 
than her memory. 

Dare her to stand up and repeat 
“allah hu akbar.”

Notes:

This poem is part of the folio “Frank X Walker: Kinfolk.” Read the rest of the folio in the January/February 2026 issue of Poetry.

Source: Poetry (January/February 2026)