to learn you belong or you do not
to this or this part of that forever
with shame and fire beneath it all

the lower orders cherubim and seraphim
wheels and chariots take to a rising wind
hard to believe immoral not to believe

I never saw one angel I will not say none
ever affected me who knows the unseen
what belief might cross the sin

of omission against the Holy Spirit
close booth murmured guilt unrelieved by
Saturday penance as candles bless the throat

Joyful Mystery the boy at the temple
Sorrowful Mystery the garden agony
Glorious Mystery the Assumption of the Queen

any least word forgotten the novena fails
the magic squandered the illness spreads or
whatever prayed against spreads and it's my fault

an altar boy faints on the cold marble steps
a stained glass beauty ensnares the unwary
the Epiphany you belong and you do not

to this or this part of aught for naught while
dancing on a pin through the eye of a needle
my sense of self split finally I split