AT St. COLUMBA’S: CAIRO, ILLINOIS, 1970

Bedded down in sleeping bags
on the floor of the church,
surrounded by menace,
but having each other,
we huddled together
beneath the calm enamel gaze
of the black saint
watching over us.

Our hosts had warned us
“Whatever you do,
don’t go outside;
you might get shot.”

But that night the Soul was with us
round about-----within:
and in the morning all of us partook
of Eucharist -----with easy hearts
from the hands of an embattled priest.

Copyright © Robert D. Sutherland, 2020