“Gloria: In Excelsis Deo”, Patti Smith

Dad doesn’t believe in worship the same way Mom does.

His God’s a working-class-no-frills-get-the-job-done guy.

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Takes me to Sunday services at the Stockade Bar & Grill.

Full menu, it’s a melting pot of thieves & working stiffs.

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Dad orders a tap & a #3 for me: two eggs, two sausages,

hashbrowns, toast. He & Papa Luca play 6-5-4, 50 bucks

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a game. I watch a muted Davy & Goliath to the soundtrack

of skittering dice, shit’s, Goddamn’s, and backslaps.

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I scarf down the grease dipped in food, Dad tilts the shaker

to me, says blow for luck. He rolls boxcars, smiles,

ㅤ

thanks Papa for breakfast, finishes his beer. Back home,

Mom asks me what I learned in church that morning.

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Alex Stolis has had poems published in numerous journals. His chapbook, Postcards from the Knife-Thrower’s Wife, was released by Louisiana Literature Press in 2024, RIP Winston Smith from Alien Buddha Press 2024, and The Hum of Geometry; The Music of Spheres, 2024 by Bottlecap Press. He lives in Hudson Valley New York with his partner, poet Catherine Arra.
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Picture Credits: Raahima S.