Wednesday, September 22, 2010

God Bless the Hell Out of You: A Poem for Ardie

Met him at the coffee shop.
Could have sworn he was a Jew by his nose.
But he was Catholic.

Talked about his new book-
Out by year's end.
About his life as a hospice worker
And part-time insurance salesman.

On his way to St. John's to donate food to the needy,
Rather than meeting his girlfriend at the Sheraton.
That's what he used to do.

Married for 25 years to the same woman,
And pissed off at the Establishment.

"You're going to have to take the profanity out of your book
In order for it to meet the standards of the religious genre."
That's what the publisher told him.

"Bullshit," he said.
"You can't tell real stories of redemption without talking about real life."

So they published it.

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