Supplication
We need a patron saint for the banana boxes
that they pack your groceries in down at Costco,
… for boys in backwards ball caps,
… for velcro shoes and old men with wraparound sunglasses.
We need a patron saint for poets
the ones without faith and the ones with scars from teenage acne,
… for body oil, pipe bombs, and transdermal nicotine,
… for every Mexican cab driver who has ever gotten me safely
to my destination in spite of my inability
to correctly pronounce colonia,
… for the brown and white saddle shoes my mother wore in high school.
We need a patron saint for the tumbling worded prayers of children
who mistake God for Good,
… for the space between Holy and Whole Foods,
… for anaphor, onomatopoeia, and the cultural references
to the 1970’s in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
We need a patron saint for days when the sun shines
slantwise and the dogs lie down
in the dust behind the barns.
We need a patron saint for small stakes gambling,
… for unacknowledged acts of contrition,
… for the places that angels cannot go because
their wings do not fit.
Originally published on The Laundry Line, March 25, 2025
