Good Little 'Catholics' Poem by James McLain

and 'We' all without exception
being the good little 'Catholics'
and in old age, my knees tell
you all you need to know.
'Mary', her mother was a nurse
and the stethoscope, 'Mary' would
borrow.
some times, 'Mary',
would rip her panties on the nail
coming through the window.
and every day,
between the next to last and last
the girls their periods.
we would hear the priest and
he would say;
being of and from the 'body'
and this is the 'cup' of
'Christ'
thus must now ' you' drink from it.
our hands shaking,
pulling the stethoscope
from the cherry red, wooden wall.
and the girls would all come out
one at a time.
dabbing at the corners
of their mouths with pink napkins.
too be left in the trash can,
before exiting out the side doors.