By Julianna May
I pay my mortgage in the bar
“take on me take me on”
mingles with scattered chatter
non-churchgoers on a Sunday
congregating in the afternoon
As a girl, I would’ve been home
tearing off my pre-Easter dress
tights torn from rolling in the field
during junior church making a cross
out of the palm leaf given earlier
What would a Sunday with no church
look like? I always wondered.
Sleeping in till noon, no line
for the shower, the warm sunshine
like petals dripping dew on me
Maybe a nice walk to the corner store
ice cream for brunch and dog
slobber from the neighbor’s golden
with a passing “nice afternoon” smile
to sit on the porch alone
I haven’t stepped in a church for over a year now
can’t even be called a “ChriEaster”
And this Sunday is one of the odds
of stumbling through adulthood
and I’m slowly learning
life is gonna be more than okay
with more time spent
in sweatpants amidst laughter
and peaceful people on a cloudless
April Sunday
Julianna May (she/her) is an ex-horse girl, ex-Christian, and ex-hetero. She loves teaching English and ranting about Shakespeare. She has previously been published in Crepe & Penn Magazine, Nightingale and Sparrow Magazine, Wingless Dreamer Anthology, and others. Instagram: juliannamaypoetry Twitter: JuliannaMay1216
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