His clothes were dingy and worn-
face furrowed in deep lines
of tragedy-laden years,
grey hair in unkept tussles,
and the remnants of last night’s drunk
perched on every graveled , “Amen.”
I could feel his bleary eyes upon me
as the parishioners dispersed,
extending vigorous handshakes and
numbered variations of-
“Enjoyed the sermon, Preacher.”
And I,
feeling fatigued
and sensing the gloomy pressing
of spiritual postpartum,
thought to myself,
“He’ll ask me for food money,
but he’ll spend it on booze.”
When all were gone but him and I
he approached
reaching out his gnarled hand
(I reaching for my hip pocket)
and opened his palm
to reveal there seventy-eight cents.
“Here, Preacher, God bless you.”
as he smiled and pushed it into my hand.
Then he turned and walked out
reflecting (much more brightly than I)
the image of God.
Author notes
prompt: Malfunctioning Logic
Ever wonder what kind of thoughts a preacher thinks? The same as yours.
This poem is partially based on my own experience and faulty misconceptions.
In a list
A contest entry
- Reservations Needed! by Celticmoon.
450 points, ended July 23, 2007, 15 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - A spiritual experience by Uncle.
1200 points, ended August 12, 2007, 31 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. How sad we are when we make these leaps of assumptions, and how wrong we usually are, besides. This is a well-written lesson we all need to learn, Brian. 
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Definite spiritual truth:
Yeah this reminds me that you can never tell where another person is, or where they're heading. But this was removed abit from a personal, life changing spiritual experiences. thanks for offering it: Dave -
Here I sit before this penning of yours and I think. I think of how normally I do not allow religious writes in my contest simply to assist in avoidance of poets and their belifs being bashed; though this time I left it to be allowed in hopes no one would be so cruel. My beliefs are not the same as most but that is alright as I respect those of another and ask on the same in return. I admire seeing someone strong in their faith for too often people are mislead and tend to skip off their path sort of speak. This piece leaves much for thought. Not so much because it has religion in it but because of the message it carries. Just because we are different we are still also very much the same. I like this much and enjoyed it even more. Thank you for entering and good luck!
Blessings
Bel
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Prompt: Malfunctioning Logic
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