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Book One · The Soft Rebellion
Poems & Prayers
Words for prayer and grief — for the days when your own words run out.
Fifty-three poems and prayers gathered into the four seasons of the soul — Winter, the Undoing; Spring, the Becoming; Summer, the Burning; Autumn, the Returning. Roughly one for every week of the year, though you are free to wander. Not polished sermons — field notes from the wilderness.
The world does not need thicker skins. It needs softer hearts.
Who is this book for?
For the grieving, the tired, the waiting. For anyone whose prayers have gone quiet, who is carrying sorrow in the marrow of their bones, or who simply wants permission to be tender again.
If you have sat down to pray and found nothing there — no words, no feeling, only the ceiling — this book was written for that exact silence. It does not ask you to perform faith you do not currently have. It hands you borrowed words until your own come back.
Why I wrote it
Poems & Prayers began as small notes to myself, written late at night after the children had fallen asleep — reminders that tenderness still matters, and that meaning can still be found in ordinary days. What began as personal practice grew into a conviction: to stay soft in a hard world is not naïve, but necessary.
I reached that point slowly — not through one collapse, but through a thousand small withdrawals. Moments where I numbed instead of noticed. Where I scrolled instead of spoke up. Where I called exhaustion purpose, and busyness meaning. I mistook momentum for aliveness.
What is inside
The book moves through four seasons rather than four chapters, because grief and returning do not arrive in a straight line. You can read it a week at a time, or open it wherever you happen to be.
| Title | Poems & Prayers |
|---|---|
| Author | Dean Cothill |
| Publisher | Urban Publishing |
| Format | Paperback, 148 × 210 mm (A5) |
| Extent | 202 pages |
| ISBN | 978-1-83489-080-7 |
| Published | September 2026 |
| Category | Poetry, Christian Living, Devotional |
The other books: Between Arrivals and Departures · SOUL · The Five Questions — or start with the question that fits where you are.
Questions readers ask
How do you pray when you have no words?
You borrow words until your own come back. That is what a book of prayers is for. Many people find that reading someone else's honest prayer aloud — or praying a single line slowly, in rhythm with your breathing — does what trying harder cannot. Silence counts as prayer too.
What can I read when I am grieving and prayer feels impossible?
Poems & Prayers was written for exactly that season. It is short-form: a poem or prayer at a time, no chapters to keep up with, nothing that asks you to feel better than you do.
Is it alright to be angry with God?
The book assumes yes. Lament is one of the oldest forms of prayer there is, and much of this collection was written out of protest rather than certainty. You do not have to be holy — just honest.
What are the four seasons in the book?
Winter, the Undoing; Spring, the Becoming; Summer, the Burning; and Autumn, the Returning. Fifty-three pieces in all — roughly one for each week of the year, though you are free to wander.
When is Poems & Prayers available, and where?
September 2026, in paperback and on Kindle. Print copies will be available directly from this site and through South African retailers, with the ebook available internationally.
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