A Prayer

The goddess I pray to 
isn’t from the world beyond. 
Those who receive the loaf as a miracle 
know who she is. 
She sweats and bleeds with them, 
she breaks her bread with them each day. 

Blessed are you, justice, 
among women and men, 
so let your name be hallowed, 
let your kingdom come.


Translated from the Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid.

“A Prayer” from Exhausted on the Cross (New York Review of Books). Copyright © 2018, 2021 by Najwan Darwish. Translation copyright © 2021 Kareem James Abu-Zeid. Reprinted with permission.