he looked the stainedglass windowslooked around the church

                                                                upandown the pew cross the naveacross the transept

watched intently as the priest mounted the altar

saw him over the ambo

altarboy to each side

she tapped him on the thigh

                                  What are you doing?

Im looking

 

she understood he didnt Believe

   but she knew he would listentake in the sermon

he was an exceptional listener

                                seemed always to hear moreunderstand at a deeper level than her  or perhapsas hed say  . . . in the moment it escaped her

                                            no  she knew it didnt

Tempest Shakespeare  What’s past is prologue.

he shared with her

                      Im steeped babe

which was accurate

occasionally during Mass she glanced at him

poker face

                hed tell her what he thought as they drove back to her place

Seatbelt?

You know I don wearem

   For me?

Not even for you baby

she wasnt pleased but theyd only be on neighbourhood streets

So . . you were very attentive.

                                    What did you think?

I very much liked the priests message  Hes a good speaker

And the face.  What was with the face?

he noddedsmiled  Youre observan . .

. . I was on tenterhooks, I knew you wouldn’t saydisrupt anything.   What bothered you?

Bothered  Yes

                 It was only a bother  I want you to understand tha

she said with mite trepidation

                                   What bothered you?

Its church

Yes.

I really did enjoy the priests sermon

You said.

             What was it you didn't like?

The parishioners  At least those I saw listened to

Didn’t like?

No

      During prayers

The prayers?

   Yes 

          I was disturbed because their tone  their tone struck me  as insincere    Rather  Rote   Passionless

If there was a God Im not keen Hed been keen listening to their faith disposed  I apologise   Rote

Sounded like memorisation

                             Flashcards  Addition subtraction   Multiplication 

I felt the priests words were uplifting but they   werent following

Not you

          I adored your recitation    Your faith

she smiled warmly

                     

I adore your faith in me  despite ours are dissimilar

   a tear fell to her cheek she didnt brush it away 

                                                       in a clear voice While I disagree with you you havent a soul. Your spirit is strong tangible.

                            Tangible.

Stop stop woudya

                       Ya just wanna get in my pants when we get to your place

1959,  Thursday,  28  12. 23

2010,  Saturday,  30  12. 23