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NORTH CAROLINA L I T E R A R Y RE V I E W
2025 JAMES APPLEWHITE POETRY PRIZE FINALIST BY ZACHARIAH CLAYPOLE WHITE
what i remember most of church in all my dream.
i sing
someone else’s
with
voice –
of my grandfather not the words themselves,
you
understand, but their echo, those rooms left behind: the lullaby.
architecture
of an alcoholic’s faith filling the pews. the buttress –
and
lifting
even now though
ZACHARIAH CLAYPOLE WHITE is originally from North Carolina and lives now in Philadelphia. He holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where he was a Jane Cooper Poetry Fellow. He teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia, Saint Joseph’s University, Manor College, and the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. His poetry and fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in Southeast Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus, among others. His awards include Flying South’s poetry prize as well as two nominations for the Best of the Net and one for a Pushcart Prize.
Winter 2026