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John McCafferty Jun 2020
A Sunday sacrifice condensed
Golden amber sprites compete
Cries of life echo their last bequest
As prongs and tongs poke
Black bars sizzle on cold dead flesh

Sweetened smoke invokes
the demon's first bite
Mind controlled spoke of rites
The decree of three hundred degrees
Old and new viewed
on separate pews
Charcoal bright a dusty white

Rules do vary with belief in
the division of meat
Breathe in look up
Give thanks to the energy received
Respect both life and death in defeat
(@PoeticTetra - instagram/twitter)
About a mile out of town
Past the village in the mist
Sits a tiny Country Church
Not found on any list

It's for Catholic and Baptist
It's for Protestant and Jew
It's doors are always open
This church is here for you

The town is near two hundred
The Church a few years more
There are tales about this building
That are part of local lore

The church is small in stature
But large in who it serves
It's a place to go and worship
It's a place to calm your nerves

The pews are hard and narrow
Carved by hand you see
One has crumbled through the years
So in all there's thirty three

Seventeen pews on the left side
Sixteen on the right
Hand carved with love by someone
And all are painted white

At Easter and at Christmas
The Church is full as it should be
And as one of those who enter
I say, it's something you should see

The pews seem so much whiter
When the voices sing so loud
If it could be witnessed by it's builders
I know they would be proud

There are carvings in the church pews
Left by many through out time
On the second one in on the left
Is my brothers name and mine

The pews are worn in places
They've supported many souls
Who have come in here for comfort
They have come to be made whole

The one pew that is broken
Was fixed but once more broke
It was decided then to leave it
By the elders, local folk

The minister in charge then
Stood and told those who were there
"To fix what keeps on breaking"
"Wastes time, we could better share"

"Besides, look all around you"
"The pews, there's thirty three"
"To you, it should hold meaning"
"Think hard, and you will see"

"Remember, Christ our Saviour"
"Think of his age on his last day"
"Thirty three, that is the number"
"Now, think on that next time you pray"

"The Church pew that is broken"
"Can't be fixed, so let it be"
"It's as though it was intended"
"To help give strength to you and me"

The Church out in the Country
Will stand longer than me
And will witness many Christmas'
From church pews ...all thirty three.
Ministers usually detect the stink of pews when they’re empty.

— The End —