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ODE #1 TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRL WHO REFUSED TO BECOME MARY MAGDALENE

Kenneth DiMaggio

Even her smoke rings
had sass and snarl
especially when she was
blowing them from
the pew
at the back of the church
when we were skipping
school

And if St. Mary’s
was where you went
to confession

--why shouldn’t it be
where you went
to commit
your sins

but for you not carnally
--sharing only a Marlboro
and the confidence
of an onyx-finger nailed
and Cleopatra-eyed
co-ed

that half the adults
in this auto-innards-making
town tried to punish
but could never break

beginning wtih detention

and ending
with a boy’s room wall
reputation

Which is why she liked coming
to this church the only place
where somebody did not write
her name for something
she refused to regret

And because she did not

she spent more time
in God’s house than
any church-confirmed
so-called “virgin”

And because you were there
with her as --a saint
trying to become
a sinner

you got to share
getting kicked out
of paradise
with the girl
who would define
how she would become

a woman

giving you the courage

to define
how you would become

a man

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