flaming jewels

the organist

daddy warned me against fiddle players
and everybody knows drummers are
just plain crazy

so i went and fell in love with the organist
of saint cecilia's on fifth street

hiding in the cry room
i listen when he practices on saturday afternoons

i love the deep echo of the hollow spire
the flicker of the votive candles in front of the virgin
and the low hum of the organ

sometimes i peek and see him swaying
over the keys, working with his
hands and feet

i shape my mouth in a round holy "oh"
and breathe a few angelic ahhhs
soft enough so he won't hear

and i wonder what it would be like
for us to play together in the church

his thin hands pulling long measured notes
and my wordless soprano spiraling
straight up to heaven.

jewel@gleeful.com
a seraph production