"In the numbness after September 11, 2001, I found that only the arts could lift my spirit…especially, I read and meditated with poetry…"—From the Preface

Inspired by September 11, 2001, and events following, this gem of a book is meant to help us find hope in the violent times in which we live through praying with poetry. Each chapter is devoted to a close reading of a single poem in which we come to understand the poem as the author comes to understand it. Poets whose work is examined are from varying backgrounds and religions and include Adam Zagajewski, Lucille Clifton, Scott Cairns, Jane Hirshfield, Mahmoud Darwish, Denise Levertov, Wendell Berry, Daniel Berrigan, Yehuda Amichai and Janine Langan. "Each of the ten poems moves us," says the author, "because its author has been moved in the course of composing it."