I have knelt at the feet
of nine stone saints, prayed
to taste Mary’s miracle
tears, searched for roses
on the wind. I felt for secrets
in the planes of a man’s body,
draped myself over his hip,
showered his sleeping form
with soft breaths of praise.
I carried quartz, lit blue candles
in the east, placed dry wafers
on my tongue, pressed
my forehead to a yoga mat
devout as a Muslim at prayer.
But God never knocked or came
looking for me, my shepherd
seemed fine with losing my fleece.
My worship fell flat to the gods
of my choice. Now I pray
to the lump in my breast.
– Colleen Harris is a faculty member at UTC with an MFA in Writing from Spalding University. She has previously authored three books of poetry, appeared in the Lousville Review, Wisconsin Review, Minnetonka Review and others, and she was a Pushcart Prize nominee. “Idolatry” is from a manuscript tentatively title Madwoman City.
Sequoya Review 