The Altar Poem by Lonnie Hicks

My grandmother had an altar
in the middle of the living room;
Mother Mary statute four feet tall.

On the table it rose seven feet
towering over all.


In an family emergency
a candle was lit
she would kneel;
pray-
candle flickering
on her face-
lit like heaven
was supplying
the electricity;
so serene that
face
and most often
the hallway phone would ring
and I swear
that family emergency
had been resolved
somehow
someway.
.
Came Christmas
I was alone
with the Madonna
and I knelt
just like Grandma
lit my candle too
and prayed for a toy tank.

Got one too
except it came
on the TV.

America
was fighting
a war in Korea.

My thought to this
day:
maybe I did it wrong
but can't risk doing it again
the whole world might get
destroyed.

Just one of those child fears
that lingers on.

Oh I still pray
but now I just leave
those candles alone.

Apparently
my praying is too powerful
and by not praying that way
I save the whole world
from me
everyday.