The Priest

A collaboration with Susan S.

Baring the mark of the Son of God,
I wear the white collar each day,
as a flock of believers become true achievers
when they join me in a silent pray.

Life of a man so lonely and cold,
absent of the wide joys of life.
Am I expected to live with no sin up my sleeve,
never knowing the love of a wife?

I'm looked upon with so many eyes,
all seeking for guidance and truth.
I hear so many tales of misdeeds and betrayals
as I sit in the opposite booth.

Home every day, I take off my shoes
as a bottle of gin awaits.
In the coldness of night I always let the bugs bite
as my body slowly abates.

Gin is a must to keep my life sane,
to throttle the voice in my head,
that tells me the derelict cadging butts in the road
deserve food and safety in bed.

Those unrestful eyes, they often judge wrong
when pedestals break and they see
that I’m only a man doing the finest he can,
buried in work, ‘twas long done by three.

Moments of joy invade my cold life
dad’s smile in the picture is broad
his son dressed in black, with the church's cross on his back,
Baring the mark of the Son of God.

Author's Note

I've posted it on a computer with no spellchecker, so please let me know if you find any errors.
Written for the Collaboration Group contest.

Reviews

[Angel Bird]

An impressively meaningful piece. A deep insight into a life meant at first sight to be even more significant and important than lots of others, when the truth deep down within him is of the contrary.
There lies so much truth and sadness in the essence of these lines.

All is not gold that glitters!

Very emotion and thought provoking.
The style you gave this piece is just perfect!

Brilliant work!

[Nicholas Hallows]

As soon as I read this I was immediately reminded of the poetry of George Herbert; especially pieces like Affliction, that deal with his struggles as a priest. Was this a deliberate nod of the head to the metaphysical poets, or just a coincidence?

You both did a really good job on this.

The third stanza is my favourite I think. 'tails of misdeeds and betrayals' (should tails be tales?).
The subject of religion and belief is such an interesting one. I've been doing a lot of reading about it lately; it will always be a fascinating debate. I like that in this stanza you have pointed out that even people with belief are just as morally fallible as anyone. Confession has always been a strange idea to me. Surely it should be up to those that have been sinned against to forgive? Not a priest who has bore no effect of the sin. I could go on, but I will spare you my rant.

Very nice poem!

[Amor-de-angel]

Last line 3rd stanza, booth not both?

What a great collaboration you both did here. I am so glad you teamed up. This has ticked all the right boxes for me.
Thanks for entering the contest. You have to work together more!!