Summer nights on the porch,
conversation would begin
with fair-weather hymns
and corn-field benedictions--
no hint of the apocalypse at first.
Then, my uncle would spit,
and it would be time to preach
about my sister.
No letter had arrived with postage
stamp from far away places--
no foot-prints on the dusty road,
love, coming back.
Coughs, sighs, scraping of chairs
evolved into a murmur
that became as strong as
the whirlwind that took Elijah--
how my sister with painted face
and red high-heels should be
banished forever.
My uncles agreed and said amen,
but before I went to bed
I'd catch a handful of fireflies
as prayers in my window
to light her way home.
© 2022 LaVern Spencer McCarthy
LaVern Spencer McCarthy has written and published nine books, five of poetry and four of fiction.
Her work has appeared in Writers and Readers Magazine, Meadowlark Reader, Agape Review, Fenechty Publications Anthologies Of Short Stories, From The Shadows, An Anthology Of Short Stories, Visions International, Fresh Words International Magazine, and others. She is a life member of The Poetry Society Of Texas and National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc.
She resides in Blair, Oklahoma where she is currently writing her fifth book of short stories.
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