GULPING IT DOWN 

Seven times seventy I have

heard you tell of palming

the communion wafer during

the wedding of the semi-famous

Mr. and Mrs. You Know Who.

The priest stopped the ceremony,

chased your sorry ass to the last

row of the Basilica of the Sacred

Heart, demanded the return of

the body.  You gulped it down,

then later hid in a coat closet.

I wish I could have been there

at that moment when the

god-flesh became your story,

instead of the other way around.

 

This poem from Charmi Keranen’s The Afterlife is a Dry County, Big Wonderful Press, LLC, reached out and grabbed me as I read her book of poetry.  This is a humorous telling of a serious offense in the Catholic Church … or at least it used to be forbidden to touch the communion wafer…very poignant and real.

NEW YORK STATE 

On weekends we sit in the Rec Room

Halting the inevitable.  With invisible string and

 

Boxes, endless

Collages, and, What, 

By the way,

Did you think you would do 

With your life?  Glue

Tiny red, blue, green, and yellow glass beads 

And ivory shells to stripped wood boxes.

At the picnic table in the main room, 

We sit with the boys

Who want to die. 

Diorama of gorgeous retards, child-

Lock scissors in my shaking hands.

 

This poem from Cynthia Cruz’s The Glimmering Room, Four Way Books, exemplifies Cruz's search for normalcy in an abnormal world.  The beads are small and fragile not unlike her and the other girls and boys who exist in her world… a world of retards… in art therapy.

As I Begin

I am currently a student at IUSB.  This blog is an assignment for my Editing/Publishing class. As I post in the future, I encourage your comments about the posts and the blog itself. Feel free to leave your insight or contact me by email. The photo of the Bayou Cypress was taken in Beaumont, Texas.  The water looks beautiful…. but watch out for the gators!