May 13, 2009 / Creative Writing
I watched Rebel Without a Cause on TV late one college night when I learned …
Sunday, an old hat, strong perfume drifting
like incense over the altar and pews.
Stop this ritual. Take back
its Latin chant. I say the rosary.
I cover my head. I put coins in the collection
plate when it’s passed around. I do
my penance. I eat Christ. I recite along with
everyone when the priest cues. I genuflect
and make the sign of the cross.
I wonder if God sees me among all
these people, if I’ve made
an impression on him. Do I feel blessed?
Is the light more than sunlight, the rain
more than water rushed with wind,
a storm retribution I have read about?
When I watch the world on TV, I see
the masses, blessed and unblessed.
My holiness is a large bell
struck. Watch the pigeons flutter off,
the wings beating, the rhythm of flight,
as each attempts its own life.
Donna J. Gelagotis Lee
Donna J. Gelagotis Lee’s book On the Altar of Greece is the winner of the Seventh Annual Gival Press Poetry Award. The collection received a 2007 Eric Hoffer Book Award: Notable for Art Category and was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and other awards. Her website is www.donnajgelagotislee.com.