poem of the day 05.14.14

facere et docere (to do and to teach)

the catholic school dance had ended

and we were waiting for my old man to pick us up

but he never showed

when we were the last ones left in the lot

calvin said to me, what do we do now?

i shrugged because i didn’t know

i had images of car wrecks and home invasions

but the chances were good my old man

had just fallen asleep on the couch again

we’d been less than a month in this school

the big, catholic high school in pittsburgh

taught by the christian brothers

danny said, maybe we should go and knock

on the brother’s door

it seemed like a good idea

all of the lights were on in the brother’s house

they probably had a phone

they were our teachers our spiritual guides

there was no way they’d refuse to help

three fourteen year-old boys

it took a while but one of the brothers finally opened up

he was still in his garments

the black pants and black shirt like a priest

a little while collar instead of a tab

what do you want? he said

my dad never showed, i told him

and that’s my problem how? he said

well, i was stumped on that one

to be honest i didn’t expect that kind of treatment

can we use your phone? danny said

the brother’s home is closed, he said

the school is closed too

then he smiled and shut the door in our faces

i think he teaches religion class, calvin said

we went searching for a pay phone

our high school was in a college part of the city

so there were packs of drunk students on the street howling

a coed fell over and couple of guys picked her up

and dragged her away

we got about two blocks from the school

when a carload of pink-faced frat boys

threw their crushed beer cans at us

assholes, danny shouted

but then the car stopped and flew into reverse

we ran back the two blocks

back to the catholic school lot

we hid behind bushes but the car never came for us

there was nothing to do

so we sat on the school lawn

i watched the lights go out in the school

and the janitor go to his car humming

i watched the lights in the brother’s home burn

almost every single one was on

i thought of how comfortable and secure those guys were

safe to watch tv or read or to pray to jesus

or jack-off to images of fourteen year-old boys

like we all knew they were doing

close to midnight

my old man crept into the parking lot

i fell asleep, he said

as me and calvin and danny got into the car

i took one last look at that brother’s home

all lit up like the fourth of july

i thought about the brother at the door

the one who smiled and then slammed it in our faces

and i finally understood

all i ever needed to know about catholicism

the truth about everything

they’d always taught me to believe.