She leans forward in the pew
“You’ll take her up, right?”
Two sisters with canes –
I’m strongest on two legs
and so of course, “yes”. I am
reliant on muscle memory
walk the aisle, remember
ways of gracious refusal
hands crossed to indicate
a pass on the bread and wine.
My two sisters rest on the rail
heads bowed in reverence-all in.
I’m their spotter, invisible
presence having long traveled
other roads in the
struggle for an apt metaphor.
Suddenly the dry wafer
Suddenly the wine
My cues not obvious enough,
I eat then drink in the seconds
It takes to comply without
a fuss, to accept what feels
like blessing in spite of my
disbelief, wholly communing
when this must be the point:
eat the food the host sets down.
It won’t kill you.
It was stranger’s welcome
In a loving house.
I’m alive today
Wearing the weight
Of my contradictions
Lightly, smiling.
Early Morning Poems 