Jesus’ Legs

by Charles W Brice

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Jesus’ legs call me
I want his legs
stare at them while I wait for the bathroom
in first grade

pictures on the school wall
of his legs hanging off the cross
his mother holding his dead legs in another
his long blond legs

too late
pee pools around my shoes
I can’t get Jack or Spot or why they run
some kids can already write

my Ps and Ds and 7s and 5s are backwards
Sister Marino screams at us
the closest thing we have to the Virgin Mary
and she’s mad all the time

she sells candy every afternoon at 1:30
indulgences for us
sugar for the missions
when we kneel in the hallways

and they turn off the lights
and we finger decade
after decade
of the rosary

it means a tornado might come get us
we pray for hours
on our knees
in a hallway with no windows