Poem of the Week Chris Bodor

Chris Bodor

Currently serving a two-year term as the Florida State Beat Poet Laureate (2023-2025). Bodor is the Editor-In-Chief of the international literary journal A.C. PAPA, which stands for Ancient City Poets, Authors, Photographers, and Artists. He lives and works and dreams in St. Augustine, Florida and is the chair of St. Augustine PoetFest.

Backstory

A lot of my inspiration comes from work situations. Working on the grounds of a church, a condominium, or a college is a privilege, because you are maintaining a space used by others. At the end of the day, someone’s experience in that space has been better, thanks to my efforts. This important part of this workplace snapshot is that I did not unfold any of the pieces of paper. Every written word written stayed safe, locked behind the Sexton’s Office door, until they were burned and used for a future Ash Wednesday.

File Cabinet Full of Sins

At the Good Friday service
members of the parish
wrote their sins on paper
and one after another
they nailed their confessions
to the wooden cross
set up near the altar.

After the mass
before I cleaned the carpet
and swept out the chapel
I removed each piece of paper from the cross
and placed them in a small plastic bag.

The anonymous sins of the congregation
are locked in my second-floor office
in a file cabinet
near the paint cans
next to the dust mop
and the broken vacuum cleaner.

 

© 2024 Chris Bodor