Crumbs fall from
the communion
table of the church
mice weave and
bob, cat stalking
them methodically
in the darkened
sanctuary does not
exist outside these
stained glass
windows overlook
the pastor’s dog,
Bob, cat hanging
limp in his mouth
moves out of habit
prayers having
become empty
words do not feed
the huddled flock
in the pasture alert
and in fear of
the hungry bobcat
SMG
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3 comments:
So...I've read this more than a few times, and there are so many layers and such intricate wordplay it's taken me 3 days just to come back to it.
Love the way you've used 'bob' differently each time, the foreboding nature of prey after its victim, and all the religious references that on the surface seems benign , but speaks to an even greater predator than what's in the wild.
Or...I could be completely off the mark -- I like it anyway,
eden
I like this too. I only read it once, and there is something immediately accessible about it. (I hate when you HAVE to read more than once to understand ANYthing in a poem.) Your brain picks up on the connections on some quiet level, even if you're not sure what's going on as you read it, and the bob/cat wordplay is excellent. Sort of a literary metronome that keeps bringing you back to a familiar beat. I plan on reading it again to pick through the different layers.
It is a form I mess with from time to time. There is always a transition word or phrase that finishes one sentence and starts the next. Ideally the poem circles back on itself by the end. This one is not as successful as others verbally but the content is strong so I think it is a keeper.
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