I became a choirboy,
\nas if an old world
\nattracted a new world,
\nwith the chaste sound
\nof choral hymns, found
\nthrough the open door
\nof a church.
\nIt was not the epiphany
\nof conversion.<\/p>\n
My heart reflected
\neverything that entered it.
\nI was as vulnerable to God
\nas I was to ice cream,
\nto sex,
\nto the unison of melodic
\nchords.
\nAnd to an archangel,
\npitiless disciplinarian,
\nwho beckoned an aimless boy
\nto a pew before the others
\nentered,
\nand played anthems
\nto him alone.<\/p>\n
And so for the several years
\nI sang in his choir,
\nhe would play, before rehearsal
\nand I would listen
\nbefore the choir assembled.
\nFor all his harshness
\nI received a diffident kindness,
\nthat excluded the others, and
\nwas never challenged.
\nSo we are sometimes loved,
\nwhich I believe I was,
\npitied,
\nwhich I believe I was,
\nand given a tower,
\na hospice, which I believe
\nfor no other reason,
\nthan I be safeguarded,
\nand allowed
\nhappiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I became a choirboy, as if an old world attracted a new world, with the chaste sound of choral hymns, found through the open door…<\/p>\n