Awed by the spectacle
blissfully confused to meaning
wide-eyed youth
confirmed in mystical faith
spiritual pageantry
standing for opening homily,
crowd vibrant, then bowed
reverence, singing along
opening hymn of allegiance
some know the words
Opening day, paradoxically
given all the answers
yet you need to discover
unending myriad of questions
finding your own way home
you tried discernment
unsure, wavering, exasperated
still loyal; the true believer
Then came one
still sweetly recalled summer
prayerfully answering the call,
taking final vows,
when, in seven
yours won it all.
Long ago ordained, now
consecrated regular – your
stately, charismatic garments
proudly sweat-blotched, faded
bent-brimmed woolen miter
adornment off-kilter
presiding from
sun-soaked choir box-pew,
lead provocateur –
sitting, standing, exultantly
cheering ‘Hallelujah!’
(modern translation)
Plastic chalice,
ice-cold communion potable
condiment-slathered
tubular unity bread
feeds heart, soul, head
Eucharistic celebration
pipe organ crescendos
punctuate ingrained,
ever-differing liturgy
opportunistically
engaging homily played out
congregants alternately
stand in joyful anticipation,
sit in veneration, anguish
Ritualistic, solemn,
sacramental. Reverential.
True faith comes when
exuberance, not feigned,
reverberates, message lingers
long after you exit the temple
crossing the white lines drawn
on vibrant green
lessons ingrained
personal parables formulated
allowing you to be in the world,
of the world. Baseball.
Amen.
“Play ball!”
– Mark L. Lucker
© 2016
http://lrd.to/sxh9jntSbd
Ponderable polemics, poetic 