Art: Photography by Robert L. Ferrier
A PRIEST TO BELIEVE IN
Drip by drip by drip, gravity bags bring near the final turning, and the mind turns to sin and soul and to a priest I can believe in. . . .What’s her name? What was her name? Sister—Sister Whatshername, who preached, Save your soul, save your soul, save your God-created immortal soul —drip by drip by drip? Do not sin, do not sin, so she said, Sister Whatshername. A sin, a sin — what is a sin? Tell me, at the final turning, Sister Whatshername, at the final—tell me. What God hates, what God hates, that’s a sin, that’s a sin, so says Sister Whatshername, such as mortal, such as venial, such as deadly, such as less so, so says Sister Whatshername— drip by drip by drip. . . . Mortal deadly, deadly mortal, what’s a mortal deadly sin? Tell me, Sister, tell me, Sister, tell me Sister Whatshername, tell me what’s a mortal sin, a deadly sin. A grave matter, a grave matter, a mortal sin’s a grave matter, done with knowledge and consent, so says Sister Whats— drip, by drip by drip. Aha! Aha! A grave matter, a grave matter, done with—, that’s a sin, that’s a sin, that’s a deadly mortal sin—aha! aha! that’s a deadly mortal sin—drip by drip by drip— So that’s it at the final turning—but wait! but wait! The mind still turns at the final turning, the mind still turns at the final turning, the mind—drip by drip by drip—to what’s his name, to what’s his name, what’s his name at the final turning? Hoppy, Hoppy, Hoppy— Hoppy Jones, yes Hoppy Jones, Hoppy Jones that’s his name, yes that’s his name! Imagine that at the final turning— Hoppy Jones, Hoppy Jones, Hoppy Jones! Imagine that at the final turning, Hoppy and the Spots doo-doo-doowopping, “It’s—,” “It’s a—,” “It’s a Sin—,” It’s a Sin To Tell—” A lie, lie, lie. . . . Ensorcelled, ensorcelled,— Imagine a word like that at the final turning— ensorcelled, ensorcelled, ensorcelled am I at the final turning, by Hoppy, by Hoppy, by Hoppy Jones and the harmonic Ink Spots. Now who woulda thought that, who woulda thought that, who woulda thought that at the final turning? A towhead would, a towhead would, a towhead would at the final turning, a towhead would with a Decca 3, a Decca 3, a Decca 3, a towhead would with a Decca 3 and a 45, a Decca 3 and a 45—a towhead would with a Decca 3 and a 45, a 45, a 45— round and round and round it goes, the 45 on the Decca 3, over and over and over he goes, Hoppy Jones on the 45 on the Decca 3. . . . Bass, bass, bass—can’t ya hear it?—bass, bass, bass monologue—can’t ya hear it?— over gravity’s monotone? Can’t ya hear:
Be sure that it’s true when you say ‘I LUV ya,’ ’cause, y’know, honey chile, don’t cha know it’s sin to tell a lie? Whole LOTTA hearts have been broken. Ya know why they were broken. Just for these foolish little words that were spoken. Ya know what they were? “I LUV ya, I LUV ya.” So ya better be sure that it’s true when you come runnin’ up here sayin’ “I LUV ya” ’cause it’s a sin to tell a lie. Darlin’, ya know doggone well I LUV ya and if ya break my heart I’ve GOT to die? Now, drip by drip by drip, that’s a priest, that’s a priest, that’s a priest I can believe in, can believe in, can believe—can—.
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About the author:
After retiring from a career teaching philosophy, Vincent Barry returned to his first love, fiction. His stories have appeared in numerous publications in the U.S. and abroad, including: The Saint Ann’s Review, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, The Broken City, The Fem, Dual Coast, The Fiction Pool, Subtle Fiction, FictionWeek Literary Journal, Ariel Chart, Star 82 Review, Abstract: Contemporary Expressions, Children, Churches, and Daddies, The Blotter Magazine, Terror House, Cerurove, and Caveat Lector. Barry, whose work was nominated for Best of the Net 2017, lives with his wife and daughter in Santa Barbara, California.
Art: Untitled by Robert Ferrier, @dante_dreamer
In the artist’s words:
Robert Ferrier is a retired university research administrator living in Norman. He received a BA in Journalism and an MBA from the University of Oklahoma. He has published two novels at Amazon Kindle ebooks. His photo, “Magnolia Morning,” was the cover of the Summer, 2016, Dragon Poet Review. His photo, “Sunflower,” was the cover of the Summer, 2017, Dragon Poet Review. “Diagnosis in Stasis,” was the cover of the Fall, 2012, Blood and Thunder, OU College of Medicine. His poems have appeared in, Dragon Poet Review, Red River Review, Oklahoma Today, Blood & Thunder, Crosstimbers, Westview, Mid-America Poetry Review, The Exhibitionist and Walt’s Corner of the Long Islander. In 2007 the Norman Galaxy of Writers nominated him for Poet Laureate of Oklahoma. His influences in poetry have been shaped by poets who write clear, passionate verse: Howard Nemerov, Billy Collins, Pablo Neruda, Ted Kooser, Elizabeth Bishop, Ruth Stone, and Seamus Heaney. In photography, he has developed increasing interest in abstracts.