September 2017
Joan Colby
JoanMC@aol.com
JoanMC@aol.com
I have written poetry and short fiction all my life and published a lot of it. My day job is editor of a trade publication Illinois Racing News. I live on a small horse farm in northern Illinois with my husband and various animals. My latest book, "Ribcage," (from Glass Lyre Press) recently won the 2015 Kithara Book Prize. I also am an associate editor of FutureCycle Press and Kentucky Review.
Author's Note: These are poems from a group that I am calling "The Ordinary Saints". So far, I have about 24 of these and aiming toward a chapbook eventually.
SAINT SEAMSTRESS
Blessings on you, at your black machine
Of needles and threads. In the sweatshops
Of the third world keeping pace
With a foreman’s watch. The
Piecework of a cottage industry.
Honor your foremothers in the flaming tenement,
How they labored over collar and sleeve.
Garments bought cheap
From the exploitation of your
Clever fingers. How rarely we think
Of you in the crammed factories
Sewing on our designer labels.
SAINT BAGGER
Blessings on you, paper or plastic..
Creed of cans on the bottom,
Chips on top. Sorted for weight.
Quick fingered, smiling, making
Small talk. In constant motion,
Loading carts, offering help
To the parking lot.
Saint of Repetition
Of pack and heft. No time
To pause as customers push
In a perpetual hurry. Squaring
The sacks ready for produce,
Ice cream cartons, cereal boxes.
SAINT TRUCKER
Blessings on you, Over-the-road,
Freeways and toll-roads. Tight
Schedules. Weigh stations. Rest stops.
CDs, Talk radio, long hauls
Of sameness. Saint Away-From-Home,
Diesel, truck stop showers and hookers.
Sleepers and candy wrappers, counting
The miles. It’s a living on 18 wheels
Burning rubber cross-country. Singing along
With George Strait.
SAINT POSTAL CLERK
Blessings on you, defender of queues.
Requisitioner of patience. Saint of the
Scales, of routes and maps.
Checker of packages, properly taped
As a hostage. Dean of destinations.
Observe the colony of stamps. The ordinary
Unrolling of flags. Commemoratives of states
Celebrities, national parks, roses, famous poets.
Lines stamping with irritation as you calmly display
A catalog of offerings to the undecided. Saint of Holidays,
Of the last-minute mailers, certified, first class,
Media or bulk. How you recite the doctrine of
Zip codes.
SAINT BARTENDER
Blessings on you, mixer of martinis,
Chocolate, strawberry or the regular
James Bond tipple. Repertoire of
Frozen daiquiris, stingers, old fashioneds,
Gin and tonics, single malt scotch,
Cabernet, merlot, forty eight kinds of
Craft beer, boilermakers, what’s on tap.
Listener to the weepy and the pontificators,
Dealing with the obnoxious, cutting off the
Inebriates, breaking up the brawls. You’ve
Seen or heard it all. Saint of closing time
Stacking the glassware, standing like a priest
In the ornate mirrored altar, hearing
The confessions, offering the absolution of
The last swallow.
SAINT SEAMSTRESS
Blessings on you, at your black machine
Of needles and threads. In the sweatshops
Of the third world keeping pace
With a foreman’s watch. The
Piecework of a cottage industry.
Honor your foremothers in the flaming tenement,
How they labored over collar and sleeve.
Garments bought cheap
From the exploitation of your
Clever fingers. How rarely we think
Of you in the crammed factories
Sewing on our designer labels.
SAINT BAGGER
Blessings on you, paper or plastic..
Creed of cans on the bottom,
Chips on top. Sorted for weight.
Quick fingered, smiling, making
Small talk. In constant motion,
Loading carts, offering help
To the parking lot.
Saint of Repetition
Of pack and heft. No time
To pause as customers push
In a perpetual hurry. Squaring
The sacks ready for produce,
Ice cream cartons, cereal boxes.
SAINT TRUCKER
Blessings on you, Over-the-road,
Freeways and toll-roads. Tight
Schedules. Weigh stations. Rest stops.
CDs, Talk radio, long hauls
Of sameness. Saint Away-From-Home,
Diesel, truck stop showers and hookers.
Sleepers and candy wrappers, counting
The miles. It’s a living on 18 wheels
Burning rubber cross-country. Singing along
With George Strait.
SAINT POSTAL CLERK
Blessings on you, defender of queues.
Requisitioner of patience. Saint of the
Scales, of routes and maps.
Checker of packages, properly taped
As a hostage. Dean of destinations.
Observe the colony of stamps. The ordinary
Unrolling of flags. Commemoratives of states
Celebrities, national parks, roses, famous poets.
Lines stamping with irritation as you calmly display
A catalog of offerings to the undecided. Saint of Holidays,
Of the last-minute mailers, certified, first class,
Media or bulk. How you recite the doctrine of
Zip codes.
SAINT BARTENDER
Blessings on you, mixer of martinis,
Chocolate, strawberry or the regular
James Bond tipple. Repertoire of
Frozen daiquiris, stingers, old fashioneds,
Gin and tonics, single malt scotch,
Cabernet, merlot, forty eight kinds of
Craft beer, boilermakers, what’s on tap.
Listener to the weepy and the pontificators,
Dealing with the obnoxious, cutting off the
Inebriates, breaking up the brawls. You’ve
Seen or heard it all. Saint of closing time
Stacking the glassware, standing like a priest
In the ornate mirrored altar, hearing
The confessions, offering the absolution of
The last swallow.
© 2017 Joan Colby
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