Hands locked tight
like jigsaw pieces
knuckles bony white shine
in waxen light.
Knees knob
bump along the pew
her mind riddled with sin.
Into the abyss
of curtained darkness
the murky odour of guilt
She kneels in the silence.
A purring whisper hidden behind
a sliding screen
warm wine breath
penetrates the cubicle.
His rhythmic prayer soothing
In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy
Ghost….
she recites her confession.
Her voice falls
like specks of dust
sprinkling the dim light.
She stammers into the latticed grid
the face of the gates of hell.
Blessed and forgiven
she bows out backwards
into a vacant seat
mouths her penance
then shudders into a neon noon.
She walks cleansed through coal black streets
shine of alabaster
a halo around her head.
She is pure scrubbed clean
yet hollow with hunger.