Published September 7, 2008
Title is taken from someone creatively named 'anonymous', and the quotations are adapted from the Book of Common Prayer, 1929.
_
there’s a church up on the hill
and it’s burning, burning like the end of days.
To you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.
vivisect a priest and have a look—
is there anything different about his insides?
I thought maybe a brighter heart, a cleaner lung
& a brain free of impurities. maybe there’s
a hole in his hand & a gash in his side. but
what I saw in our makeshift autopsy struck me
as neither sacred nor profane.
This is my blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
strike match & hold. if it were any easier
it’d be genuflection, and if it were any harder
it’d be martyrdom. There’s a saint on your wall,
watching over breakfast. clasp hands over waffles.
you can say grace, but his ears are shut;
some masquerade for kindness no one will know
but the sweatshop girl who carved his face from plastic.
This is my body, which is is given for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
I was watching a show about a dead man. they
split his skin from ear to ear, and put his brain
on a scale. how much is it worth?—if they knew
what was happening in our heads they would know
life was a tacky burlesque, glitzy and oversexed,
designed to keep the shy from singing. & when the saint
above your cereal will dance with Aunt Jemima, maybe
then the ridiculous will come to light.
Let us pray.
this is a book of irrefutable truths, written
by a liar and edited by a pope. when the world ends,
maybe you will clutch it to your breast. or maybe
you will toss it aside for the dogs to pick at.
maybe
between its pages
you’ll find where I slipped my soul.
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141,293 Literary Works • 674,334 Reviews
HAHA! This is amazing! One of the best things I have seen on YWS. Its different, but I absolutely love your style.
Someone once said to me that nothing can be truly great unless it makes people react with strong emotions. This poem will make some people really annoyed, but I think this is just...great. Good work and keep it up!
Wow, that was...different. Very, very different. In a good way. I'm not going to pretend I really understood it, but that's not always a bad thing. I suppose it was supposed to be a little over everyone's head, no? I think on the whole it was quite an interesting poem, high-minded and all. Splendid.
I loved this line-for me, personally, it was the most truthful line.
That was ridiculously, mindblowingly, "I wish I could write even close to that well" good.
Incredible images, beautiful thoughts, a stream of consciousness that led me on a journey where after each line, all I could think was, "Holy ****. That was amazing. New favorite line. No, wait. This one is my new favorite. No! Wait- this one!"
You made me argue with myself.
Very good signs. Awesome piece. I really wish that I could do something other than ramble, but I'm kind of useless at this point.
SAMANTHA!!!!
what a great poem.
I read it and thought of steeples, and of our favorite poet, who is labeled anonymous? but whose name is allison harvard (: (:
the title works PERFECTLY with the prose, and I also adore the interjections of prayer. perfect perfect. great tribute to the human condition.
and hey, you got me back on YWS haha
I have to agree with Mr. Jiggity - this is a crazy awesome poem! Your images are incredible and so vividly evocative, and the very words seem drenched in the smell of incense and hard-used books.
'this is a book of irrefutable truths, written
by a liar and edited by a pope. when the world ends,
maybe you will clutch it to your breast. or maybe
you will toss it aside for the dogs to pick at.'
- The above is definitely my favorite stanza; it's so representative of the struggle religion plays out inside each of us.
I may not have been on YWS long, but this is definitely the best thing I've come across yet.
Whoa.
That was insane.
And by insane, I mean great.
And by great, I mean I love you and I'm completely not helping.