Keep It Simple, Stupid

“There’s always too much to do,” he complained,

worried half sick about a broken fence.

Old man—dirty plaid shirt—elderly wife of decades—

gets him into a clean one.

Engine of his Chevy pickup roars and

after three tries he is off, chased

by a plume of grit and grime, to another long

meeting of Bubba’s Bible Formation Society.

The gathering of men gaze at the words

swimming before them:

Her breasts are like honey!

Her teeth are rows of pearls!

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Mozart!”

“No! It’s an allegory of Christ’s love for the church!”

One strokes his grisly beard as others nod and cluck amongst themselves.

“It must be kept in the Holy Canon!”

The old man has to close and cover his mouth to

keep from spitting—from laughing out loud

as they take the vote.

He keeps his thoughts to himself. He gathers his cane

and gets to his truck PDQ

lest the road get slick,

And soon enough, safe enough, with darkness long fallen,

slides under the quilt with his Beloved,

chuckling.

“What you laughin’ about?” she whispers, her soft voice

hoarse with age.

“The committee just added a pretty darn sexy poem to the Holy Book!”

“What?!” she sat upright in spite of the general arthritic

weariness that had set into her bones.

“Go back to sleep, Darlin’!

The committee just put a love song

to you

into the book

And they’re calling it

The Song of Soloman.”

Not fully following this line of thought,

she sank into her pillow effortlessly--

and dreamt at length of her Savior’s perfect love. 😉

Amen

written for February 14, 2024