Friday, July 11, 2008

A Poem Written in My Old Testament Class


I am no poet.
This is a work in progress and is still in the editing process.

A Boy with a Dictionary

When a young boy gets his hands on a dictionary,
Instantly he flips the brittle pages to each and every forbidden word.
Shining a spotlight over the dark terrain of disobedient diction,
Trying to become the rabbi of non-kosher language.
With school yard disciples, all eager to bow down,
to the idol of cool, smooth rebellion. Making a covenant;
the law of the school yard, which states: "A boy of the 5th grade
should not speak more than 15 words without one of those words
being a vulgar profanity that would make even a cowboy quiver."
This is why our mouths continually taste like soap.
The soap is our parents brilliant, literary, philosophical, theological symbol
of redemption.
The coal rubbing our unclean lips: washing, sanctifying.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

such a pleasure.
I mean your poem Leevs... and also the thought of you typing each word for all the world (i.e. whoever reads your blog) to ponder and take delight in.

Katie.

Kristin Michelle said...

i think that photo is a poem all in itself