A POEM "HOLINESS"

Again, the little door to darkness

opens with incantation;

"Bless me Father,

       for I have sinned."

 

A woman, head bowed, uncovered

as is the modern want,

recites her litany of little sins,

envy, doubt, despair-

Unfaithfulness!

 

In his dark corner, the priest

leans toward the voice,

"Tell me of this unfaithfulness

of what, and where, and whom."

 

In two score years of ministering

he never tires of the sounds,

as women tell their tales.

 

Slowly he leads her to that first meeting,

that first kiss,

Oh, the love he can feel in her memories.

 

He smiles at love`s blossoming,

the titter in her whispering,

no longer shameful

but proud in lustful abandon.

 

And of the sighs of pain

at the inevitable loss,

her suitor gone,

taking all the fairy tales.

 

It is only in this little room,

when all the tales are told,

that he can cry for love

the savoring, never come.

 

V

C 2005   Deabler, V.T.