The cruciform in wood or brass design marks all tradition ever gained or lost. Kneeling, we take the wafer and the wine. Our fingers on the chalice down the line show skin's twists from birth to dust. An infant turns toward blessing, held supine in mother's arms, firm in mother's trust.
Mother takes the wafer and the wine.
Leaning toward the rail, nearly nine decades into the puzzles of growth and cost, an elder sips the ferment of the vine. First published in Peck Rd.