Home page

Editorial details

Browse other issues

Subscribe

Guidelines for contributors

Contact details

Interviews

         JUDE AQUILINA

      Next to Godliness

 

          Bowed in respect to the scriptures

          she drips sweat as the dragon roars.

 

          Like footprints in the sand

          futile patterns against the nap

          criss-cross and overlap

          as she pokes her all-consuming wand

          at sinful crumbs, evil clumps of hair,

          purging a pathway to an inherited dream

          of unblemished surfaces.

          On her weekly pilgrimage

          along the sunlit hallway

          she curses dust, gravity,

          the messy sheddings of nature,

          kicks the stool and slams the door.

 

          A blockage and bag-change

          bring her back to her knees.