Relic

Full of Grace

By: Charles Giuliano - Dec 23, 2014

Relic

After lunch
Chapel
Mt. Alvernia Academy
The nuns thrilled
Announced a visiting relic
Saint so and so
One by one we approached the altar
Gold object
Shaped like a crucifix
Small glass window
Behind which
Tiny fragment
Body parts
Hacked up for
Thousands of reliquaries
Churches around the world
Medieval pilgrimages
Canterbury Tales
Grace and forgiveness
Prayers for miracles
Kneeling
Thrust toward my lips
Eyeballed it intently
Seeing is believing
Priest in vestments
Kissed
Then a quick swipe
Holy cloth
Back to a pew
Radiating bliss
Bursting out for
Recess
And more sins