Thursday, January 7, 2010

Government and Religion: A Love Poem


I met her first on a
small slip of paper, a
standard form to
request a beat for
a college paper
called The Reveille.

The request was the call,
the revelation.
Government and religion,
she wrote.
Government and religion,
I wondered.

Who asks for religion as a
beat? But the teacher said:
she’s one of the five, the
five best.
So, okay, then,
government and religion.

Face to face she said
hello and asked, do
you have anything for
me to do?
So, I thought, this is
government and religion.

And I did have something
for her to do. And we did.
Her slip of paper asking for
government and religion
was a point in the line to the
editor’s salvation.

Sunflower, photograph by @nAncY, used with permission.

8 comments:

  1. I love this, Glynn. It appeals in every way, is so tender, such a heart-gift without mushiness.

    You keep surpassing yourself and one favorite keeps replacing the other. I can't remember now how many I've said are your best but this one is going in that stack.

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  2. government and religion = marriage?

    oh my...
    is this as romantical as i think it is?

    hummmmm?
    or, am i just imagining things?

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  3. where He leads ... I so enjoy your writing

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  4. Very cool!! But, I also wonder -- is it also a romantic story going on here? That's what I am picturing - a romantic/evangelical relationship type of thing (wouldn't be the first time...)

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  5. I am trying not to interpret this and just love it. There is so much to love.

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  6. Is she your 'dot'? How can we be left dangling?

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  7. I didn't realize I would create suspense. (Well, maybe I had a fleeting thought.) This is actually a true story, and yes, it's about how I met my wife. But it's also about something else, and I'm still trying to figure out what the something else is.

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  8. Very interesting. I wonder--is Government the man. If so, who is doing the pursuit here? Who should be? Does religion wear a tight red dress and bat her eyes at government? Does government work all summer at a preschool to buy a diamond ring? Do they have prenuptials? What song does religion choose to walk down the aisle? Does she wear white?

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