table top sermon

POETRY | ISSUE TWO | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY

Written by Elise Sadlier she/her | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer

the lord is my shepherd 

I shall not want 

he leads the lamb to the table 

you taught me how to pray 

the very act of wanting 

how to fold my limbs in like a paper crane backhanded me when I used the Lord’s name in vain still 

I would build a shrine to you if I could 

I think you’d rather I be split 

sticky figs 

broken bread 

you say that good and evil have no nuances I would eat locusts with honey 

if you told me to 

I could be your acolyte 

Weren't you the one who taught me 

how to sneak the wine with the Eucharist? 

topping it off with water 

lighting incense 

to mask the scent of your sin 

polish yourself into a mirror 

and make our Lord’s ways 

backwards 

I am bent to your will 

I don’t thank him for the meal 

nor the hands that have prepared it 

I can’t bring myself to tell you 

that when I say our memory verse 

I only hear an echo 

his countenance is turned from me 

I no longer find him in his word