Counting on Sunday - Margaret Vaughn

[Larry Robinson]

Counting on Sunday

He didn't have his
Heart in his sermon.
If he did, it didn't Show up in any  enthusiasm
In his voice.
And I didn't have
My restless soul
In church.
If I did, I wouldn't Have counted
The 823 bricks
On the wall.
Outside one Of the48
Window panes
Behind the 16
White shutters
That helped shade
The sunlight
Off the 11 crosses,
2brass, 4 on cloth,
1 on a plaque that's nailed
To the rail that leads
To the wooden one
That's carved on the altar
Just left of the
Wooden one that holds
The page numbers
That face
The one in concrete On the baptismal font
That stands beside
The organist
Who is married To the preacher who
Has a silver one
Hanging around his neck
As he speaks to
10 women, 8 men
And 4 children
Who sit in 21pews
That hold 161 Hymn books
Under 78 electric candles
That shine on
5 doorknobs
And 2 flags That stand
Over 11 eyeglasses,
7 necklaces,
2 flower arrangements,
1 hair bow,
1 bow tie,
1 silver barrette,
And a sermon
In a pear tree.

         -  Margaret Vaughn 
            ( poet laureate of Tennessee)