-- THE CONFESSIONAL --

John Herlihy

Once a week, at the tail end of a fine Saturday,

I took myself to a church confessional for my sins to pay.

All of my boyhood innocence had fallen by the wayside;

Now I had to confess my sins; in the blessed Lord confide.

An ominous presence sat in silhouette behind the grill;

Hunched over with the sins of the world, I remember still.

I took a deep breath as I entered the enclosure in wonder;

The quiet church, smelling of incense, had the feel of thunder.

Once inside the cubicle, I felt as if within hallowed ground,

As the reflected yellow light fell through the grill all around.

At first, an ominous silence with a heavy curtain still drawn;

I could have been deep within a forest, every bit the timid fawn.

I said to a shadow in the grill: Bless me father for I have sinned,

With my voice stuck there in my throat, I simply grinned.

The mantra: It has been only one week since my last confession;

The blessing: my slate will be wiped clean as a tidy concession.

The guilt I carried with me will no longer be around my neck;

My little soul soon blessed for the coming week, what the heck.

With all the sorrow I could muster, my heart went pit-a-patter.

How could I be such a naughty kid, didn’t the good life matter?

With a blush and a sense of guilt, I mumbled, these are my sins,

Dancing their little lives away as though upon the heads of pins.

At the time I committed them, they didn’t seem to be so wrong;

Now I had to pay the heavy price and sing humbly my little song.

I threw spitballs in school and stole my brother’s baseball glove;

I dipped Bernice’s pigtails into the inkwell, but I swear out of love.

I stuffed the liver I hated behind the kitchen radio (it soon broke);

While roaming in the marshes, I squeezed a frog to make him croak.

I hid my penny candy from my friends, to hoard my stash like a miser;

I copied my friend’s math homework, thinking myself all the wiser.

The aging priest coughed behind the grill and whispered lightly;

I listened carefully, knowing I would soon be feeling sprightly.

With a voice most gentle and full of love, he uttered my penance,

Five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys to perform in recompense.

Yes father, I replied in earnest, as I prepared to take my leave,

Feeing clean again until next week, to return for another reprieve.

With my promise as closure, yet knowing that I was telling a lie,

I vowed never again to commit these atrocities with a heavy sigh.

We had been taught in the catechism that repentance was the key;

Not only to admit the wrong, but promise never again as my plea.

With aching knees, I left the confessional, forgiven and feeling free,

Heart lightened, soul brightened, the world’s burden lifted from me.

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(c) John Herlihy 27 March 2019