Stained glass whispers
Of votive petitions
Surrender smoke
In dollar devotion.
Author notes
11 word contest
In a list
A contest entry
- Micro-Poetry by Yemassee.
631 points, ended December 3, 2008, 31 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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Flickering flames
purchased for hopes,
prayers answered,
as if all were that
easily bought.
Eleven well-chosen words to send minds thinking!
M-C
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Thanks Aes.
Coincidence, in my original draft I was using "flickering flames" in the first line.
The things money can't buy but people still try through no fault of their own...it's what they're taught. -
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Great minds, right, same words. Hah!
The waxy smoke smell when a votive
gives up its life reminded me of the
always, to me, dreadful scent of incense,
shaking its potency back and forth,
back and forth.
Now this will send Yem a-wondering again!!!
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I always dreaded the incense. It made me physically sick on a number of ocassions. Just the thought of it triggers the scent as though I'm burning it now where I sit.
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Especially in church---where I had been a fainter several times.
Those benediction services. It even drifted to the farthest back row!!
OMG, that same sick feeling, moose lady stumping in Georgia,
now live on the news!!! -
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Nowhere was safe from the incense!
Moose lady graces my refrigerator bearing oldest daughter's doodling of handlebar mustache and various other Mr. Potato Head accessories if you catch my drift
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LOL, I'd like to take credit for the simple solution but I got some help from Aesthete2000.
First my lame excuse. I haven't been to a church since I was maybe 8 years old and I know nothing about it or its practices...well not enough...as you saw.
And of course it's a satire on attaching faith to the all-mighty dollar. I saw the greed, I just didn't see the proper angle.
And having said all that, I am still probably wrong, but if I am, I give up...stupidity reigns.
Thanks, this was both fun, a learning experience and a chance to read something smarter than I am, which is nice! Seriously. -
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Thanks for the complement I'm glad it sparked some thought and for me personally, I'm glad I put something down on paper that had nothing to do with flamingos or gnomes.
I was raised irish catholic so this sort of thing is stored deep in my core.
In my opinion, organized religion preys on the faith they teach in many ways. This is just one of them. I never understood how someone would pay a dollar or more to light a candle in church only to have it snuffed out at the end of the day so another poor soul could pay a dollar the next day to relight the same candle. Would the Lord not hear the prayer of a person who didn't light a candle?
You got it. -
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Yeah and the older and "wiser"" we get, the more we see the surface and symbol and all the hypocrisy that surrounds daily life. I'm not religious, just an agnostic but I have a feeling God can he you without that candle being lit.
My parents were/are catholic, I was baptized, I just never felt a faith. I envy those who truly do. -
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I consider myself more spiritual to a degree rather than religious. There is an evolution of thought through events and experiences over the course of time that shed light on the "people" behind the curtain.
I raised both my children the same way...one feels it, one doesn't.
It's a personal path.
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well this says so much, this little gem. but what really comes to mind is the man who was killed when the Black Friday crowd at a Wal-Mart rushed the door and trampled him to death. so this man dies so a drooling bunch of idiots can save $3.99 on a christmas gift --------
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Thank you for your comment RadioPJ.
Tragic doesn't even come close to a fit description of the Black Friday Wal-Mart horror. I wouldn't want the karma associated with those gifts.
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I've read this one any number of times. And I know I will kick myself for not being able to grasp what you obviously intend to be grasped. The first two lines lead toward religion, and so could the third (the smoke they emit when a new pope is chosen)...the fourth towards maybe greed, but how to put them together...I'm hoping it happens while I comment.
Now if it were me it would be a denunciation of the grred within some sectors of organized religion...but I didn't write it so it's not likely about that.
So this is my guess:
It's about the devotion of the holy dollar...the worship of green. No?
Don't tell me what it's about...give me a hint though. I'm mad at myself for not getting it.
Thanks for entering and for indulging my stupidity.
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Unfortunately I'm not a skilled hint giver but I'll try.
Hint: Don't discount possibilities.
I'm glad I entered. No other thanks required
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