Prayer for Rooms We're Forbidden to Enter

By Jackie Craven

may this day
            that paces the linoleum hall
                                    find you
blinds raised
                        shadows folded
on a closet shelf

may you embrace the hissing air
            forgive
the ventilator
                        and infusion pump

may your walls
            slip from your shoulders
to reveal other rooms

            rooms you almost—

and
            in your forgetfulness
may you leave
            every door
                                    ajar 

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Jackie Craven has poems published in AGNI, Beloit Poetry Journal, New Ohio Review, Pleiades, Ploughshares, SWWIM Every Day, and other journals and anthologies. She's the author of Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters (Brick Road) and two chapbooks, Cyborg Sister (Headmistress Press) and Our Lives Became Unmanageable (Omnidawn). Find her in Schenectady, NY; Cocoa Beach, FL; and online at JackieCraven.com.

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Upcoming Events:

• 4/1 / O, Miami Festival Check out a Poet with Jen Karetnick / Books & Books Coral Gables / Live / 2-5 pm / Free

• 4/2 / O, Miami Festival Heroic Eco-Sonnet Reading: Community Reading with South Florida Poets including Caridad Moro-Gronlier, Jen Karetnick, and Catherine Esposito Prescott / Virtual / 2 pm / Free / Register here

• 4/6 / O, Miami Festival Cervecería Poesía | A writing workshop, Led by Jen Karetnick, Caridad Moro-Gronlier, and Mary Block, Presented in Partnership with SWWIM / Cervecería La Tropical / Live / 7-9 pm / Pay what you can ($15-$50) / Register here

• 4/12 / Meet the Artist with Didi Jackson / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed / 6 pm / Free

• 4/12 / Poetry Reading with Didi Jackson and Judy Ireland / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed / 7:30 pm / Free

• 4/15 / O, Miami Festival Check out a Poet with Mary Block / Books & Books Coral Gables / Live / 2-5 pm / Free

• 4/28 / O, Miami Festival Conjuring Spirits: An Ekphrastic Workshop, Led by Caridad Moro-Gronlier, Presented in Partnership with The Deering Estate / Live / Sold-Out

  • Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter for updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.

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