Chicagoetry: Living In A Little Catholic Cemetery

LIVING IN A LITTLE CATHOLIC CEMETERY

Finally, the whole earth
gushed out of me.
I was left alone, empty, living in a little

Catholic cemetery. Musta been
the southwest side: gangsters, black
athletes, immigrant labor leaders.

It was
quiet: white dragons, eons of
quietude, short blades of green grass perfectly

kept. One small Madonna, six black
mausoleums. The air was white as
rain.

I was alone but I kept trying
to look like I was
working, always trying

to look like I'm working.
The Madonna was a young girl
with a baby, too young

to be a mother. The girl
was simply much too
young.

The air was bare.
I was warm, but alone.
The dragon was really
an elegant Japanese

lion.

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J. J. Tindall is the Beachwood's poet-in-residence. He can reached at jjtindall@yahoo.com. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.