Exhausted on the Way Down Front to the Altar: How We Loved Dr. Mike
His ginger hair an acceptable mess,
spectacles on one of those pendant/chains,
long enough to reach into a pant pocket,
too short to reach Saturn’s rings.
I love the mystery in his tone, the way
he pauses at the end of most sentences,
cliffhangers, inviting climbers to peer
around each wall for some sort of clue.
Sermons, religious outcrops, invitations
to come to the front, receive the cup
& take a sip, hold it next to one’s heart,
swish, spit or swallow, residual specks &
morsels lingering long after the lecture
has put itself to bed.
About the Author: John Dorroh may have taught high school science for a few decades. Whether he did is still being discussed. Four of his poems were nominated for Best of the Net. Others have been published in over 100 journals, including Feral, El Portal, North Dakota Quarterly, and River Heron. He had two chapbooks published in 2022.
Image Credit: Antonin Procházka “Still Life with Cup and Book” (1915) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee
As It Ought To Be 