Cross-Limbed

Cross-Limbed

I sat cross-limbed, thin-lipped,
elbow to knee, and ear to God.
I listened and feared
His word; above all,
I believed.

You quizzed me
about a floating zoo.
Remember?
You made me feel
stupid for not knowing.

I was eight,
tight-lipped,and afraid.
In Christian School,

I wore red, white and blue;
I told you I never knew
God was patriotic.

My ignorance was reflected
in the disdain on your face.
I know now that red symbolized
The Blood of the Lamb,
white was Truth,
blue was Loyalty.

You should have dressed me
only in red, smeared it across
my silent lips.

His little whore,
I listened and feared
but you lied.

I remember.

Poetry