Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Friday, October 28, 2011

A Breviary For The Eager

If one is to burnish A Calling,
One must learn one's tenets and sacraments--
One must find one's rabbi, if you will,
(for was not the Savior Himself called by this title?)
And finally, a suitable catechism must be dispensed.
Consider, neophyte,
Your betters:
Saint Mark The Evangelist, dragged through the streets and beheaded.
Saint Bartholomew, flayed alive and crucified.
Saint Sebastian, lashed to a post and shot through with arrows.
Saint Barbara, tortured and beheaded.
Saint Peter, The Rock, crucified upside down.
Faith is not for the sissified, or the weekend enthusiast.
It demands...
Everything.

Behold the lecturer, at whose feet you may learn
To mold the preposterous Play-doh of your gift
Into something truly fine.
Place no stock in his appearance--
He may look untrimmed, overlooked by the campus landscaping service,
Rumpled, ridiculous;
But his work has appeared in countless quarterlies.
He has thrown in with the ravening cream of his generation,
Tearing and ripping his way into the few available publications,
Subscribed to by 117,
Actually read by 44,
9 of whom read beyond their own contributions.
Let him guide you.
A hundred hours spent kneeling may yield a flashing moment in mid-air,
And it is only the very particular pigeon who may wheel,
High above the mob.
This can be you.
You can become one of His little favorites
If you keep your ears open, your mouth shut,
And avoid the unthinking spontaneous outburst,
Or any embarrassing, sick-making tiresome end rhyme.

______

for dverse Meeting The Bar

illustration: The Martyred Saint Sebastian by Gustave Moreau

18 comments:

  1. I am hysterical. I cannot wait to read Emmett's reply. :)


    "You can become one of His little favorites
    If you keep your ears open, your mouth shut,
    And avoid the unthinking spontaneous outburst,
    Or any embarrassing, sick-making tiresome end rhyme."

    You are seriously one of my absolute favorite poets. :)


    I keep switching blogs, but right now I'm at arbitrarymeaning.blogspot.com. Come critique.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved it from top to bottom; marvelous descriptions and excellent wit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's ok to be scared, but have faith.

    That's what you're telling us today, eh? It's what I need to hear :).

    ReplyDelete
  4. you skewer with a pure eye




    Aloha from Honolulu

    Comfort Spiral

    > < } } ( ° >

    ReplyDelete
  5. My Play-Doh remains relatively moldless, for which I am grateful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blown away am I?! That's an understatement. This is brilliant. The conflation exceptional. And, the writing--masterful. You worked at this prompt. Your effort was not cursory. Yours is the best I've read yet. This piece should be submitted to poetry periodicals for publication. Listen, you honored and humbled me with this piece. Please accept my profound thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. smiles.

    one day my play doh may be warm enough to mold as well as you shay. until then i will just sit at your feet.

    ReplyDelete
  8. is this why they call them s(words)...? smiles

    ReplyDelete
  9. These are words to cut to the quick of any false piety of the modern age and to remind what martyrdom really means. I am one of little faith, but your powerful words have left an impression on me today.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ah, I bow to your genius and your craft. Take THAT, emmett with a little 'e'. LOL! I'm in love with each and every one of your poems. I wish I could marry them. Perhaps a book is in order here? Surely!! (I got this month's issue of "Poetry" magazine and liked exactly one poem in it. I find so much more talent and genius online.)

    Love & Peace & Admiration,
    Marion

    "Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket." ~Charles Simic

    ReplyDelete
  11. Clever, cutting, funny, witty, smart and as true as a screenshot! :-) Wonderful! Brava!

    ReplyDelete
  12. 9 of whom read beyond their own contributions.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA.
    Oh, the powerplays.~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Faith is not for the sissified, or the weekend enthusiast."

    bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ouch! Your barbs are wicked sharp! And quite hilarious as well. Makes me so glad I'm out of grad school and was never religious!

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?