Stained Glass Spin (Inspired by Patti Smith’s Dancing Barefoot)

The prayers turn
with stained glass spin.
Accepted words
fall on ears
that have tuned
them out.

Count the beads,
drink the sacrifice,
eat the bread,
Closet confessions
absolved by formulas.

The knees of guilt
can rise from
their posturing.
Heaven hears
another amen.

The prayers turn with stained glass spin.

©Susie Clevenger 2012
Real Toads Peace & Noise
dVerse poetics~poetry~and philosophy




Comments

Fireblossom said…
Wow, Susie. "absolved by formula". What a great line. I love the ritual of the Mass, but ritual without belief and action is hollow, and you've said that so clearly here.
February 11, 2012 at 7:08 AM
Ruchi Jain said…
Heaven hears
another amen.
best lines..:)
February 11, 2012 at 8:53 AM
Lolamouse said…
Very cool, Susie! "Dancing Barefoot" was another of her songs that I really liked. I do think you were able to capture her spirit in your words quite well.
February 11, 2012 at 9:20 AM
Marian said…
love it, susie! i love dancing barefoot, my goodness.
this line is incredible: "Closet confessions absolved by formulas." Wowee.
February 11, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Brian Miller said…
nice...i like the prayers turning in stain glass...makes for a very nice image...there is something to be said of ritual as long as you mind why you are doing them...
February 11, 2012 at 4:13 PM
Peter Goulding said…
I suppose someone could write a thesis on Patti Smith and religious imagery but all they have to do is read your poem Susie. Spot on..
February 11, 2012 at 4:14 PM
Laurie Kolp said…
I love it too, Susie... especially the last line.
February 11, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Unknown said…
The need for redemption and absolution, so strong in many, cannot turn on formulas and hollow amens. You capture the dilemma that so many face when they seek forgiveness for whatbthey consider their sin to be. Freud seemed to back up the experience of many religions, when he explored the human unconscious. Humans have a deep-seated desire to live accirding to ideals, whether set by parents or society, and when they do not fulfill this desire they feel guilt. Religions attempt to provide a means to deal with these feelings and emotions. As your poem shows, however, religious rites become hollow and formulaic and one begins to question the authenticity or efficacy of the rites.

I think your repeated line is very effective in this regard:

The prayers turn with stained glass spin.

The firstbtime, you break the line but then you let it apoear unbroken. For me, the spinning is the whirlpool of angst and despair that sinners often feel. The unbroken line seems to say that at first the sinner tries to break the cycle of sin with the rite. But the rite is ineffective because it's a lie. Therefore, the unbroken line indicates the penitent's freedom to seek another form of redemptipn and solace.
February 11, 2012 at 4:35 PM
RD said…
contrition may absolve, but it can not cure....I stared through the stained glass for so long I think I saw past the reason I was there and found a reason th be here

Peace
February 11, 2012 at 5:05 PM
kaykuala said…
It's a great tribute,Susie! You covered it so well. The message lingers on.

Hank
February 11, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Scarlet said…
An eye catching first and last line...very nice take on forgiveness and redemption ~
February 11, 2012 at 6:32 PM
Anonymous said…
"The knees of guilt
can rise from
their posturing.
Heaven hears
another amen.


The prayers turn with stained glass spin."

You well represent a heart that is not truly repentant but is just going through the motions. "Stained-glass spin" captures the turnabout of an insincere prayer.

~Shawna
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
February 11, 2012 at 7:49 PM
Daydreamertoo said…
Yes, Heaven hears another amen.
I never did understand why it's okay to sin as much as you wish, go to confession, and be given 10 Hail Mary's and be forgiven. It doesn't nake any sense at all to me, but then again, it doesn't have to either.
Very well penned.
February 11, 2012 at 9:19 PM
RD said…
I know I commented...yet...POOF

thank you for your time

Peace
February 11, 2012 at 10:37 PM
S.E.Ingraham said…
This touches so many good points; ain't absolution a wonderful thing? Sorry, that's probably offensive but it used to bug the you know what out of me when my Catholic friends would do all manner of crap all week long, then go to confession on Sunday and get absolved, do their penance, and then start all over again without hardly drawing a breath ... if I hadn't already become rather stubbornly agnostic, I might've converted just for that luxury alone ... ranting aside, great poem.
February 12, 2012 at 1:35 AM
Susie Clevenger said…
Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments. It means a lot.
February 12, 2012 at 1:48 AM
Claudia said…
Count the beads,
drink the sacrifice,
eat the bread,
Closet confessions
absolved by formulas...wow...rituals are not bad in itself i think as long as we know why we do them and as long as it's our own decision and not a product of mass pressure
February 12, 2012 at 2:35 AM
Kerry O'Connor said…
Your extended metaphor of religious imagery seemed a strange choice considering your subject, but you worked it into the lines with amazing skill and a very powerful result.
February 12, 2012 at 8:22 AM
Ginny Brannan said…
I grew up on guilt and ritual as only catholic school and church knows how to teach it. You captured it well in this piece.
February 12, 2012 at 4:00 PM
adan said…
i like the evolution of the first two lines into a whole last line, interesting, fits really well with heaven's new amen, nice, thanks! ;-)
February 12, 2012 at 9:15 PM
Margaret said…
You said it perfectly in your poem and Brian also did in his comment. Not much I can add here... Very well done!
February 12, 2012 at 11:03 PM
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