For the Bible Tells Me So
On a hill just off Lincoln Highway
sits the white church where
my parents married and I
went to Sunday School
with Nellie, my doll. I covered
mimeographs of miracles
in primary-colored snarls
and sang all the jingles of Jesus
and his love for children.
Little ones to him belong
they are weak but He is strong.
On Sunday nights I slept
in Winnie the Pooh pjs
and my dreams were full of fire
the kind that chars and burns
forever and there is no deliverance
not even maggots can escape
the inferno that feeds on souls.
I bought fire insurance when I was 4.
On my knees beside my bed
I put some Jesus in my heart.
It was the only way, they said
to find salvation.
I made periodic payments
for the next 20 years
as if enough devotion
would quench the doubt
and make me finally
fireproof.
04.19 | New Hymns