broken rosary

broken rosary

 

 

 

 

in the pristine chapel

black and blue knees

genuflect to the choir's inflections

 

sure, i'm a sinner

but i already know that

at a whim

i will transgress

 

then undress my soul

through a paneled window

to a man holding the beads of my soul

in his hand,

mouthing meaningless words

of forgiveness

while i do a solo of contrition

totally off key

 

and then genuflect to the choir's inflections

fooling myself into thinking

my key is turning in the lock

cleaning out the storage

 

of bad breath

my sins have exhaled

into a voice

 

with no pitch

of sincerity.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

11/10/19

Reviews

[ieuan ap hywel]

very good, honest approach to religion.

[Paul Bell]

Look at it this way Mr Priest, if I don't sin then technically you're out of a job.
Probably worth the wrath of God at that moment in time. I just never understood why the love of God had to be beaten into you.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i hear you, Paul...religion should not be something to fear...
j.

[Lorry]

Far more eloquent than my thoughts as a seven year old, building up the courage to tell my parents that i just didnt get this religion/confessional malarkey (mainly due to a fat, red faced priest coming into our clas and screaming at 6 year olds we were all going to burn in hell.)
Luckily for me, they were only going along with it because catholic primary school was our only option. They told me to do what i thought best and i never went back.
I still picture that priest being slowly spit roast with an apple in his mouth to shut him up 😀
Your ending says it all Jacob, a tradition where those on the good side cant even be bothered putting the effort in. The darkside isnt too bad you know, at least you can get a beer and a lapdance here 😀

[jacob erin-cilberto]

again, the fear factor...i like your last line...thanks for the smile....i feel it is so sad what has happened within our church.....and others..
hard to believe in organized religion anymore.
j.

[Lorry]

Like people, there are still good, they are just barely visible in a sea of indifference and self. It is perhaps ironic that so many churches have been converted into bars now. Nothing like guilts ghosts to ruin a goodpint 😀

[Chris Shaw]

It always amazed me as a teenager that my friend Claire would have all her sins forgiven by just attending confession. It made me think further. Well what if you had done something really wrong, like murder. Would that also be forgiven so easily? My head could never get round the whole confession thingy. At that age I answered directly to God. Nowadays, it is my own conscience. Thought provoking and a great title here Jacob.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i was raised Catholic, Chris, and i still can't my head around that idea...i agree, we answer directly....don't need a go-between.
thank you for your feedback here...on this piece...
j.

[kentuck14]

I certainly believe in God's forgiveness . . . but as my mother (a practicing Catholic all her life) use to say:
"I don't need to go to a priest to confess my sins . . . I go straight to God." She was a most unconventional Catholic all her life ( one must know . . . she was Irish!). It is written in the New Testament: "confess your sins one to another" . . . yet this is in relation to sinning against someone and asking their forgiveness and in turn God forgives. As an evangelical Christian my theology is somewhat different from the RCC. There is only one go-between man and God: Jesus Christ!
T

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree totally with what you say here..."straight to God"---and those priests can be good hearted but they can be a******s...My dad had a nervous breakdown when i was really young...back in NY...and my mom hadn't gone to confession for quite awhile...taking care of him...when she finally got to confession, the priest yelled at her about it being so long. She didn't go for a year after that.
don't blame her.
thank you for your thoughts, T.
j.

[.]

It sure is an easy way to atone for your sins, isn't it? A small confession in a wooden box and even the foulest of souls can be redeemed. If there truly is a God, surely he cannot be that forgiving! Then again anything to free the conscience of the mortal sinner. It's like a fast food outlet where salvation is the only thing served.

This is a very thoughtful write, Jacob, and one certainly on a complex and controversial topic. Fine work, as always.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Doodley...
j.

[Stella Armour]

you have to learn to atone for yourself , i never understand how this rosary and confessional thing can clear your conscience ..

[jacob erin-cilberto]

exactly, Stella...exactly...
thank you,
j.