It’s Not the Holy Spirit

A poem from Showtime at the Ministry of Lost Causes (University of Pittsburgh Press).

It’s Not the Holy Spirit
Photo by iStock

It’s Not the Holy Spirit

letting up out of an oil-slicked puddle

between the tracks on 9th Ave,

that feathered blur flashing

toward the N–Judah’s windshield.

It’s only a rock dove, tail fan

splayed, pewter wings spread

wide, reversing direction mid-air.

But tell me, what better prayer

than this? The near miss, the heart

shocked awake, that bird rising

over sooted buildings, gated doors.

Cheryl Dumesnil ’91

From the collection Showtime at the Ministry of Lost Causes (University of Pittsburgh Press), Dumesnil’s most recent book. Her other works: the collection In Praise of Falling and the edited anthology Dorothy Parker’s Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos. We’re delighted this English major comes home to SCU in spring 2018 to give a reading in SCU’s creative writing series.

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