WHO AM I TO JUDGE?

by James M. Croteau





I guess it's better,
your tone and all,
but get back to me
when you're ready
to end your claims
to nature's law,
and calls to chastity.
Rescind your stance
on who's "intrinsically disordered"
and I'm all ears.
I think your conscience
needs closer examination--
you have to know
that catechism words
like "grave depravity"
are the nails
in the coffins
of too many Catholic boys.


James M. Croteau lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan with his partner of 28 years, Darryl, and their two Labrador retrievers. Jim grew up gay and Catholic in the southern United States and loved his mother very much. He has had poems published in Hoot: a Postcard review of {mini} poetry and prose, New Verse News, and Right Hand Pointing.

GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

by George Held

Image source: The Telegraph

I

My God, what’s this old bugger doing,

down on his knees, pouring water out that silver pitcher,

washing my feet, his bald dome at my knees?

I hear him huffing and puffing, muttering

about humility and service.

What’s he doing now—kissing my feet!

My God, no wonder the warden made us

wash them before we came here to meet

this new pope, the hope of the Church

that no one goes to anymore.

Now he’s washing the feet of a girl,

a ho’ and a Muslim—she’s wearing a head rag—

who lucked out in the draw at the Casal

del Marmo, where we’re detainees

till the judges decide our fate.

Christ, I should get released now that I’ve

had my friggin’ feet kissed byil papa. Maybe

I’ll win the lotto now so I don’t have to mug

any more tourists. What to make of this feat –

having the pope wash and kiss my feet?

It’s a friggin’ miracle, ain’t it?

II

My son, allow me, your humble servant,

To kneel before you and lift your foot

So I can pour this holy water on it

And wash it clean of dirt and sins to boot.

I have done this in the streets of Buenos

Aires, where I have served as head Jesuit,

Then archbishop and cardinal, till raised

To the Seat of St. Peter, the top of it,

The Roman Catholic Church, so besotted

With scandal with which I must deal.

Let, O Lord, this ritual washing and kissing

Of feet be a symbol of my desire to heal.

Soon God will help me figure how to quash our woes –

Abuse, corruption; now I bow to kiss these humble toes.

An occasional contributor to The New Verse News, George Held occasionally blogs at www.georgeheld.blogspot.com

POPE FRANCIS' SILENT PRAYER

by Priscilla Lignori

Crowd under the rain
eager for the announcement--
centuries' old rite

Smoke pours from chimney 
loud basilica bells ring--
They have a new pope!

Announced in Latin
the huge crowd responds with cheers,
waving rain-soaked flags

New Pope Francis waves
so quiet before the crowd--
A silent prayer?

Is he asking for
the rain to wash away all
that has come before?


Priscilla Lignori is a psychotherapist in private practice and the winner of international awards for haiku poetry. The founder and teacher of Hudson Valley Haiku-kai, a community dedicated to studying and living the Way of Haiku, her poems have been published in the World Haiku Review, The Asahi Hakuist Network, Ko magazine, The Mainichi Daily News.

THE DISAPPEARED

by B.Z. Niditch

New Pope Tied Up in Argentina's 'Dirty War' Debate
--AP,  March 14, 2013
Image: Jorge Bergoglio, Prepósito Provincial, en 1976. Image source: EstrellaDigital

                  for Pablo Neruda

Where are they
the children
the lost
those living in memory
in our solitude
those without strength
who march with us
in solidarity
who sing with us
toil with us
write on walls
all over the world with us
in prisons
with us
forever
clinging to a future
of the disappeared
and dispossessed
of the earth.


B.Z. Niditch is a poet, playwright, fiction writer and teacher. His work is widely published in journals and magazines throughout the world, including Columbia: A Magazine of Poetry and Art, The Literary Review, Denver Quarterly, Hawaii Review, Le Guepard (France), Kadmos (France), Prism International, Jejune (Czech Republic), Leopold Bloom (Budapest), Antioch Review, and Prairie Schooner.  He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.