The life of the spirit is the life of the body, twice removed
On the dark glass of the river,
the reflection of church steeple–
its white point rippling now
and then as the ducks pass about.
Between the dark hardwood pews
inside, the parishioners exchange
“Peace be with you”– some looking
out the windows to the still stream,
where the reflection points outward–
some engaging their shyer neighbors–
one craning yet again to the stained
glass gothic representation of Moses
in the rushes, being offered tenderly
skyward by an enslaved washerwoman.
Michael J. Galko is a scientist and poet who lives and works in Houston, TX. He was a finalist in the 2020 Naugatuck River Review and the 2022 Bellevue Literary Review poetry contests. Recent poems have appeared or will appear in Spillway Magazine, Atlanta Review, Silk Road, and Plainsongs.
Amethyst Review 