Lodestar Quarterly

Lodestar Quarterly
Figure reaching for a star Issue 6 • Summer 2003 • Poetry

Praisin' Jesus

Chip Livingston

National Day of Prayer Ceremony, Emancipation Garden, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

Because the cancer was in only one breast,
and even though the man won't come back
the hair will,
meanwhile wigs are nothing new
to me, praise Jesus.

I got away from Daddy.
And, praise Jesus,
my cancer got my 6-year-old
away from hers.
Jesus, you're the only man
who broke the cycle
of a father's rage.

My hands are high
and my closed eyes
show glory and forgiveness;
Thanksgiving hymns
spring from my lips,
oh Father,
but just between you and me,
I'm not convinced
you're any different.

So just in case, Lord,
I'm praisin' sweet Jesus
for the chance to wear pants,
my hair short,
and the new ways
you've shown me
to love another woman.

Chip Livingston's poetry and fiction have appeared recently or are forthcoming in Ploughshares; Cimarron Review; Rosebud; Blithe House Quarterly; In the Family; Gents, Bad Boys, and Barbarians: This New Breed; and other journals and anthologies. He lives in New York City and will begin the MFA program in poetry at Brooklyn College in fall 2003.

Go To: Issue 6 or Lodestar Quarterly home page