To the glory of God, to Gwyneth with love.
Where shadows break free of concrete
Bark on a winter tree tells tales
People duck away
Love reaches its heights in a hand shake
Sweat is like hair gel
Clothes never fit
Families offer a closed fist
Friends hang in suspense
Stepping into church with pants around his hips
Having to wonder about the intentions he has as he nears the altar
Danger seems imminent
Everyone tries to look away
Love seems suspended
Odor rides high
Lines of definition seems to break
Service is well under way
Humanity is like a birdcage
To turn away has many meanings
Pictures are taken to capture two dimensions
The burden seems on his shoulders
Rain falling from high rises curves his back
Slouching forward from the weight of civilization
White roses sit in the gutter
Something snaps at his heals
Death is the paper it’s written on
Like a child earning pocket change
An inefficient canoe trip
Losing hands in lake water
Eyebrows dissolve in a quick swim
A kind of new identity is waited for
A layer of the city opens the doors
His pants walk the center aisle
Time stands still like an old movie about police
Holding his pants with his hands seem to fail
There seems no irony intended
The incandescent glow of Anglicism seems to fall in on itself
The rector takes him aside
There is a short talk in the vestry
He agrees to become baptized
Even his pants are properly fitting him
He is dipped into the horse trough
The Church shines at the peace of an embracing rector
The water is cold, but it it’s a warm summer day
Two others were planned to be baptized
The world comes to life, like more than us we’re celebrating
Not much more than a smile on everyone but sometimes subtlety is power
And, like a spirit he was gone
A spirit of a better world we will always know
The summer had a miracle to it like the inspired words of a priest
Emerald seemed as common as leaves
The Church was made of rubies
A man we will always see as the next stranger walks away
And the weight of civilization that he carried is now his responsibility.
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