Catholic Boy
In a darkened marketplace
sin and penance barter.
Gruff, one-sided bickering
Latin phrases rising from the dead.
Then in a hushed tone, this moral equation:
"Six Hail Marys for six transgressions"
The mathematics of absolution.
Bounding home
full of grace
the Lord is with me,
and not taking any lip
from past sins I bust
through the backdoor cleansed.
But reprieve and the day
are brief: a hurried lunch,
the skinned knees of singles
stretched into doubles,
and then -
another storm settles
south of the border
and idly climbing the stairs
I know full well
it’s belly up on the bed boy
the cycle begins again.
(from the chapbook PRAYERS & LAUGHTER, 1990 - also published in Riverrun; photo by me)
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