In Andrew Hudgins' poem, Praying Drunk, the speaker describes the act of writing as something important, mysterious, and difficult when sober, and compares it at the act of praying, which, for him, is equally complicated. The entire poem is in the form of a prayer, providing an insightful look at the motivations of faith, the search for truth, and the struggle to come to terms with both. When these ideas are applied to the act of writing, they reveal the complex struggle a writer faces in developing confidence in their ideas while maintaining a degree of credibility that will encourage audiences to care about what they have written. The poem begins with the speaker addressing God as “Our Father in heaven” (1.1). If this prayer is a metaphor for writing, it would seem that he is actually addressing the audience, the group of people who will ultimately judge his writing and ideas. The informal character of the prayer is based partly on the fact that the speaker is certainly drunk on red wine, but also because the writer seeks to establish a relationship with his audience: the relationship with his readers is important for the success of one writer. He thanks his readers for the red wine, because they are the ones who have allowed him to maintain a lifestyle where he can afford wine, and this wine serves as the liquid courage he needs to write in the first place.The speaker in this poem he states that prayer follows a "simple form" because it "maintains order" (1.7-8). This can also be said of writing; at least the kind of writing that follows a prescribed formula, such as the sonnet or five-paragraph essay. Writers often use these structures, because the methods are established and ... middle of paper ... would be safe to use. Even with his prayer and wine-induced courage, the speaker continues to despair. He compares himself to "the poor idiot who wanders in the air and then looks down" and "under his feet he sees eternity", when he realizes that "suddenly his shoes no longer work on anything" (5, 12-15). It's as if he's submitting to the reality that if he steps beyond the safe confines of tried-and-tested approaches to writing, there is no magic potion that will guarantee his success. However, he seems willing to take the risk and, ironically, he does so with this stylistically unconventional prayer. Desperate to remind his readers that he was once considered a good writer in case this poem did not meet their traditional standards, he makes one final request: "As I fall, remember me".” (5.16).