No Church Meeting Poem by Terry Collett

Lizbeth sits
in a pew
church empty

damp smelling
old hymn books
on the shelves

hymn number
on a board
on the wall

come and sit
she tells me
I sit down

beside her
hear nothing
except us

breathing there
far off sound
of tractor

in a field
why not here?
she asks me

on this pew
do what here?
I ask her

but I know
sex she says
me and you

don't want to
least not here
I tell her

not in church
on this pew
why not here?

it's quiet
no one here
not for miles

her eyes stare
at my eyes
could be fun

having it
on this spot
her palm pats

the wood pew
don't think so
anyway

it's God's house
holy place
not for sex

she looks down
at her knees
lifts her skirt

with fingers
it's our place
or could be

she mutters
you're 13
I tell her

so are you
she replies
someone calls

from outside
there's voices
her fingers

move her skirt
we kneel down
in prayer mode

as someone
enter in
behind us

thank you God
Lizbeth says
and we rise

from the pew
and pass by
two old girls

sitting there
in their bright
summer clothes

that was close
Lizbeth says
wonder what

they would say
seeing us
doing it?

I cannot
imagine
I tell her

but I can
in my mind
and we walk

down the path
sound of cows
mooing near

and tractor
over fields
and her laugh.