Ann Bracken: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Adultery

A room full of seven-year-olds

are memorizing the ten commandments.

They sit, eyes fixed on illustrated

poster-sized pages, bound

with thou shalts and

thou shalt nots printed

in black block letters.

 

Sister speaks, the class repeats,

“The sixth commandment is

Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

The class echoes back, as she rushes on,

but in the space between

I raise my hand and ask,

 

“Sister, what’s adultery?”

 Furiously flipping the page, she intones,

“The seventh commandment is…”

My cheeks burning, shamed and scarlet,

I study each word

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

 

I struggle toward a solid conclusion:

if adult means you are a grown-up,

adultery means you are

pretending to be a grown-up.

A commandment just for children.

 

With the realization of

my frequent sinning, I begin

examining my conscience:

How often have I played dress-ups?

or pretended to be a doctor,

a nurse, a teacher, a secretary?

 

Mental tally held

in my memory,

shaking and afraid, I join

my classmates filing into the church

lit only by the red flame

of the sanctuary candle

burning for our sins.

 

Forty second graders cram into four pews

silently waiting to seek

forgiveness in the

velvet-curtained confessional.

The murmurs of transgressions

like incense fill the air.

 

I kneel, make the sign

of the cross, then stammer, “Bless me, Father,

for I have sinned. This is my first confession

and I have lied to my parents about 20 times,

fought with my brothers and sisters about 17 times,

and committed adultery 35 times.”

 

After a brief silence punctuated by a sigh,

Father Riley assigns my penance,

two Hail Marys and one Our Father.

Leaving me to believe in

the truth of my innocence,

he forgives me all my sins.

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Ann Bracken has published two poetry collections, The Altar of Innocence, No Barking in the Hallways: Poems from the Classroom, and her third, Once You’re Inside: Poetry Exploring Incarceration, will be out in October of 2021.  She serves as a contributing editor for Little Patuxent Review, and co-facilitates the Wilde Readings Poetry Series in Columbia, Maryland.   Her poetry, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, including Women Write Resistance, Mad in America, Fledgling Rag, and Gargoyle. Ann’s poetry has garnered two Pushcart Prize nominations, and her advocacy work promotes using the arts to foster paradigm change in the areas of emotional wellness, education, and prison abolition.  

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    Cranach, Lucas II. 1515-1586. Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery. After 1532. Oil on copperplate. 84 X 123 cm.

Comments

[Anne H Woodworth]

I'm laughing out loud. Thank you for this wonderful narrative poem. I think about the 10 Commandments a lot, or about one in particular, which, when I learned the Commandments, was "Thou shalt not kill." Now I see many bibles have it as "Thou shalt not murder." I take that as meaning that killing is okay in certain instances like war. And I am really sorry for that. I shouldn't have gotten serious, because your poem, Ann Bracken, is a delight.

[gracecavalieri]

Oh is there anything sweeter or dearer than the innocence in this poem. Those nuns made poets out of us since surreality was the reality taught us.

Ann is a favorite poet of mine.

I love her all the more because her work in life is in service--that makes up for all that adultery she committed playing dress-ups.

[Stephen Reichert]

Perfect poem - I love it! : )

[Eileen]

Love this poem and the wonderful description of childhood innocence.

[Barbara Henning]

Very funny and very sad, too.

[David Lehman]

Yes, very funny and a little sad. Pertmit me two jokes. 1) the idea of renaming the tablets "The Ten Suggestions," and 2) Moses comes back a fourth time from the top of Mt Sinai. There's good news and bad. The good news is God loves you. The bad news is the ban on adultery is still in there.
Also, I agree with Anne. It is and should alkways be "Thou shalt not kill."

[Clarinda harriss]

This is one of my favorite bracken poems And Ann is one of my favorite poets!

[Peter Kearney]

What a delightful piece of childhood logic this poem presents! I don't recall that being a problem of mine. I had enough trouble with the rule "You mustn't touch yourself." No less wonderful (and perhaps to many, shocking) is the photo, with Jesus wearing Orthodox Jewish sidelocks and holding the hand of the woman caught in adultery.

[Don Berger]

I really like the turn inward halfway through, the meditation there a blend of what both the child and adult-speaker conceive, and then the great return to the clean narrative line the hilarious confession, finishing with its great ironic punch at the very end.

[Robert McDowell]

The last 10 lines, Fr. Riley's sigh, so sweetly and beautifully embrace all the innocence, vulnerability and mysterious hopelessness of childhood, and as Virginia Woolf put it, the 'long-legged monsters' we become.

[Sabine Pascarelli]

This is such a delightful poem and one of my favorites for sure.
And Ann is an exquisite poet whom I adore!

[Eamon Grennan]

Lovely rich memory, beautifully recorded. Boy and girl Catholics, we've all been there": and such a healthy laugh to end it.

[Leigh Ryan]

What a wonderful poem! I love your work!

[Desiree Magney]

Such a perfect example of a child's misunderstanding (that stands uncorrected by the priest) and a vivid picture of the confessional in this poem, Ann! Leads me to wonder if you ever played dress-up again! I love the lines, "The murmur of transgressions like incense fill the air."

[John Wetzler]

This is marvelous. Like Ann, I grew up in a pretty strict Catholic family. Seems like there was no limit to the ways you could sin, and you just hoped to keep them mostly venial. But you were always upgrading to mortal, hoping you didn’t die and go to hell before Sunday confession. Not a great way to grow up, and a delight to see the lighter side in this poem.

[Lisa Biggar]

Love this poem, Ann. I remember you reading it in Ellicott City :-)

[Karen Moser]

If you have experienced Parochial School, you can relate to these interactions, both innocent and confusing. I compliment you on a terrific poem that brings a cheerful smile to my face.

[Christella Potts]

Such a sweet and beautifully descriptive poem. One can imagine just how she felt in the classroom and in the church pew— waiting and concerned.

[Ann Bracken]

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed and commented on my poem "Adultery." Happy to share a little laugh with all of you!

[Bill Nevins]

Ann Bracken nails the RC parochial school mind fog that I grew up with as well! And she does it with grace and humor as only one blessed by the Holy Spirit can! Ah, yeah, I remember being totally confused by why some sins sent you straight to Hell but others had something to do with eating veal scallopini! When I brought this up to Father Fenton (anybody else remember him?) in the confessional , he kicked my sorry little ass out of his dark box! Lucky me, apostate at a tender age! Thanks Ann!

[Kim Lebel]

Ann, I recently became interested in your work from your former spouse. I am amazed at and thankful for your resilience and so proud of your work. I enjoyed this poem, the first I have read. I would love to talk to you about life. God Bless you and yours.
Kim