The Poem as Possible Prayer with Jane Zwart

​“O, Thou, my Zero, is an impossible prayer”: The Poem as Possible Prayer

​A poem tilted toward (or against) the divine might take any number of forms. Some such poems are psalms. Some are foxhole prayers. Still others amount almost to imprecations. Likewise, such poems’ speakers run a gamut: devout, agnostic, meek, indignant, awestruck, irreverent. Derek Walcott’s Omeros, for its part, suggests that only “O Thou, my Zero, is an impossible prayer”—which may or may not be true. One way or another, in this workshop, we’ll examine a few different poems-as-possible-prayers, considering how they angle themselves in relation to the divine and what that does to language, image, and voice. Then we’ll turn to drafting our own poems-as-possible-prayers, working from prompts flexible enough to accommodate many different beliefs.

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Jane Zwart’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, and Threepenny Review, as well as other journals and magazines. She also reviews books, writes the occasional essay, and interviews other writers. Her first collection of poems will be published in fall 2025 by Orison Books. She teaches literature and writing at Calvin University, where she also co-directs the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing.