Stained Glass Manna
Thursday, 14 April 2022
| Sam Waldron
Upon viewing the sacrament windows at St Luke’s South Melbourne
This is my body broken for you,
burnt when you were totting about at three,
purple-skinned puzzle
of the amateur pseudo-historian
gazing recklessly in Grade 3 at —
This is my body broken for
the lunatic lollipop lady
handing out sherbet bombs at Christmas,
tingling an explosive advent onto the tongues
of the young soon-to-be transient diaspora —
Children!
This is my body.
This is my body broken for
you, old man, sitting stapled proud
in your faded-red creaking armchair
defeated in the old utilities;
settling into the frailties of new classifications
and the strength of my; this; our: your body.
This is my body broken for
you, beloved, with your bowels curling on a lino-blue chair:
the psychedelic schizophrenic grandmother of nine
who hobbles through beige hallways:
the boulevard of the resurrection —
This is my body broken for
the prisoner, plucking lice
note by note
from his precious pillow,
twinkling them into a receptacle
that long ago held the ice
of a prodigal summer swansong —
This is my body broken for
the maimed gentile swimmer
coursing her gymnasium; pumping
weighted water against the tide
of the moon's masculine face.
This is my body broken for
the fractious local fascist
exiling the common communist
who lies in cahoots
with the corralling tongue of the capitalist
with a capital ‘I’;
with a Listerine license
to kill-my-some-body:
In the minty bleak midwinter
this is my body!
This is my body broken for
the dismembered,
the never-remembered
melody in the middle of
the You and the I —
This is my body broken for
the Great Schism
and the next schism
and the secret schism
in your prefixed-suffixed heart,
desperate utterance
of a shattered start —
for all those in part apart:
This is my body, broken for you.
Sam Waldron teaches Literature at Bayside Christian College and is a passionate supporter of the faithful writing of our youth. He is part of an ensemble of bards who meet quarterly at St Luke's church in South Melbourne. He is currently studying for a Master of Theological Studies with the University of Divinity.
Image credit
Stained glass window at St Luke’s Church, South Melbourne. Source: https://www.facebook.com/stlukeschurchsouthmelbourne/. Used with permission.