Indoctrination

A poem about my relationship with God.

A childhood spent
Sitting in a wooden pew,
Every line of scripture read
Is another inch on my cloak,
A cloak of guilt
Too heavy
For my tiny shoulders
To carry,
And as the years go on
My spine hunches,
My body droops,
My feet drag.

A hit to my jaw,

A jab at my ribs,
Every punch I throw
Is a punch I feel,
I throw my gloves to the ground

And you tell me
This isn't what you've paid for,

So I pick them up
And I bloody my nose
And I break my eye socket,
My head spins and my blood pours
As you cheer from the stands.

I am an ant
On your sidewalk,
I scramble away
From the gaze of
Your magnifying glass,
The shame burns me alive
And yet you keep up the pursuit,
I run back to you
Like my mother runs back to
The man who blackens her eyes;
A kind of unconditional love
That rots you from the inside.

Reviews

[James Hawkins]

I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. The title is perfect, and works very well with the description. It sets the tone for the reader. You do an excellent job of making the reader feel that heavy burden. I actually felt like gravity was pulling harder. The imagery of the child sitting on a pew, the fighter in the ring, and the ant on the sidewalk.... all very robust and speak to the theme. The ending is very strong, and it sends a perfectly clear message.