The Man
Who does he pray for?
This older man who, unafraid
Walks to the front of the church
Kneeling,
Praying, as it appeared he had
Every day, for many days.
Perhaps, many years.
Had his wife gone ahead without him?
Had a dear friend been lost?
Perhaps his own soul had
Been broken, battered, in need of absolution?
I could not ask, to do so would violate the quiet holy place.
As he teetered and tottered,
Slowly rising from the hard tile alter
He glanced at me.
For one moment, we were connected, two sinners
Recognizing each other, for one cosmic instant not measured on any clock,
We were
One.
Christine A. Brooks is a graduate of Western New England University with her B.A. in Literature, and is currently attending Bay Path University for her M.F.A. in Creative Non Fiction. Most recently a series of poems, The Ugly Five, are in the summer issue of Door Is A Jar Magazine and her poem, The Writer, is in the June, 2018 issue of The Cabinet of Heed Literary Magazine. Three poems, Puff, Sister and Grapes are in the 5th issue of The Mystic Blue Review. Her vignette, Finding God, will be in the December issue of Riggwelter Press, and her series of vignettes, Small Packages, was named a semifinalist at Gazing Grain Press in August 2018.
