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5 Reasons Danez Smith's 'little Prayer' Is The Most Urgent Poem Of 2025 (and Its Shocking New Context)

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In December 2025, the enduring power of Danez Smith's poem "little prayer" has found a surprising new resonance, especially in light of the poet's recent, highly-acclaimed collection, *Bluff*, which was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize. The short, concentrated poem, originally published in the 2017 collection *Don't Call Us Dead*, is not just a plea for personal healing but a concise, urgent manifesto for collective survival that continues to captivate readers and critics alike. This article offers an in-depth, fresh look at "little prayer," analyzing its structure, its profound themes of resilience and faith, and its renewed cultural relevance today, serving as a powerful entry point into the body of work by one of contemporary poetry's most vital voices.

Danez Smith: A 2025 Biography and Literary Profile

Danez Smith is a critically acclaimed, award-winning American poet known for their powerful, emotionally resonant work that confronts issues of race, police brutality, sexuality, gender, and the experience of living with HIV. They are a non-binary poet who uses They/Them pronouns, bringing a unique and necessary perspective to the contemporary literary landscape.

Early Life and Education:

  • Born: St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • High School: Saint Paul Central High School.
  • Higher Education: Received an MFA from the prestigious University of Michigan.

Major Collections and Awards (Updated 2025):

Smith's career is marked by consistent critical success and major literary honors. Their work is published by Graywolf Press and YesYes Books.

  • *[insert] boy* (2014): Smith's debut collection.
  • *Don't Call Us Dead* (2017): This collection, which includes "little prayer," was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Forward Prize for Best Collection.
  • *Homie* (2020): A collection that won the Minnesota Book Award.
  • *Bluff* (2024): Their latest collection, which cemented Smith's status as a major literary figure by being named a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

In addition to these, Smith is a recipient of the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, solidifying their place as a poet whose work is both culturally relevant and formally innovative.

The Profound Themes of 'little prayer': Healing, Hope, and Juxtaposition

"little prayer" is a masterclass in concision and emotional depth. The poem’s brevity—it is only a few lines long—belies its monumental thematic weight. It operates as a direct, unadorned plea to a higher power or a universal force for an end to suffering and a transformation of despair into grace.

1. The Urgent Plea for Ruin to End

The poem opens with the simple, declarative line: "little prayer let ruin end here." This is the foundational request, a desperate call for a cessation of pain, trauma, and systemic violence. The word "ruin" is expansive, encompassing personal grief, the devastation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the historical and ongoing trauma faced by Black and queer communities. By placing it at the beginning, Smith establishes an immediate sense of urgency and vulnerability.

2. The Juxtaposition of Slaughter and Honey

The central genius of the poem lies in its use of vivid, biblical-scale imagery and stark juxtaposition. The speaker asks: "let him find honey where there was once a slaughter."

  • Slaughter: Represents the fear, panic, and death witnessed in society—a direct reference to police brutality, racial violence, and the loss of life from illness.
  • Honey: Symbolizes succor, sweetness, healing, and the unexpected bounty of life.

This request is not for the removal of the traumatic history, but for the ability to extract goodness, sweetness, and sustenance from the site of that trauma. It is a radical form of resilience, suggesting that even the most devastating experiences can yield a form of grace or lesson.

3. The Lion's Cage and the Unexpected Bed

The second major image is equally powerful: "let him enter the lion's cage & find a bed."

  • Lion's Cage: This represents the ultimate danger, the place of fear, and the threat of annihilation—the "lion's den" of biblical tradition. It is the hostile world, the dangerous spaces one must navigate as a marginalized person.
  • Bed: The bed is the ultimate symbol of safety, rest, intimacy, and peace.

The prayer is for the transformation of a deadly, hostile environment into a place of rest and security. It is a wish for safety not by escaping danger, but by having the very nature of the danger transformed—a deeply spiritual and profoundly hopeful vision. This theme of finding peace in hostile territory is a recurring motif throughout Smith's work, including their latest collection, *Bluff*.

4. Why 'little prayer' Resonates in the Current Cultural Climate (2025)

While the poem is a few years old, its visibility and critical relevance have only increased. Its short-form structure and direct emotional appeal have made it a favorite for public art and social commentary.

The MTA's "Poetry in Motion" Program

For many New Yorkers, their first encounter with the poem was through the MTA Arts & Design "Poetry in Motion" program, where it was displayed on subway cars. This placement is significant; it takes a concentrated piece of art about finding safety amidst chaos and places it directly into the chaotic, yet essential, public transit system. This act of public dissemination ensures the poem’s message of hope reaches a massive, diverse audience, making it a truly democratic work of art.

A Bridge to Narrative Medicine

The poem is frequently used in Narrative Medicine and group therapy sessions. Its focus on healing and resilience makes it an ideal text for exploring personal and collective trauma. The ability of the poem to articulate profound fear ("slaughter," "lion's cage") while simultaneously demanding profound grace ("honey," "bed") makes it a vital tool for those seeking to process difficult experiences.

5. The Shocking New Context: Connecting 'little prayer' to *Bluff* (2024)

The most compelling reason for the poem's renewed urgency in 2025 is its thematic continuity with Danez Smith's Pulitzer Prize-finalist collection, *Bluff* (2024). While *Bluff* explores new terrain, including themes of self-interrogation and the complexities of identity, the core spiritual and political yearning established in "little prayer" remains the engine of Smith's poetry.

The "little prayer" is the seed of hope that allows the later, more complex explorations of *Bluff* to exist. It provides the foundation of resilience necessary to undertake the difficult, unflinching self-examination that defines Smith's latest work. The simple plea for an end to ruin becomes the necessary precondition for the nuanced, mature poetry of their 2024 collection. By revisiting "little prayer," readers can better understand the arc of Smith's career—from the urgent call for survival in *Don't Call Us Dead* to the complex, sustained confrontation with self and society in *Bluff*.

5 Reasons Danez Smith's 'little prayer' is the Most Urgent Poem of 2025 (and Its Shocking New Context)
little prayer danez smith
little prayer danez smith

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