When the Bad Angel is the Bartender

When the Bad Angel is the Bartender

 

 

 

Heaven is a dry county

religion has been drunk past capacity

 

spilled holy water

no ice

just the cold feeling of sin

 

i look for a bar that is open

and serves Catholic cocktails

like the ones i supped

as a kid

 

but those teachers who

taught me catechism

didn't tell me the perils

of intoxication

 

now i pray to Jesus

to save me from my 

own addictions

 

and improper appropriations

i know i read that somewhere

in one of those holy books

 

but probably drank too much

wine that night

and it clouded my dream

until it rained the possibility

 

i might find a rental

in that county

and stay awhile.

 

erin-cilberto

3/22/26

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

The bad angels, the servers of alcohol in the bars? The nuns taught you about the catechism , the communion and red wine, and how Jesus would save you? I guess they could have invested their time more usefully, teaching you how you could save yourself from the temptations far more likely to cause you problems in later life. I’m a firm believer in religion being kept out of the school curriculum. Not sure if I’m on the right track here j, but that’s where I travelled with your words.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think we are in the same bar, Chris.
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,
I should probably investigate Catholicism because the rituals and practices are so often a part of literature, movies and TV shows. The irreligious and atheists always seem to think all Christian beliefs originate there because they know nothing about any of it. I was born at a holy-roller Bible college and to a future pastor, so I am steeped in the Armenian tradition, but always curious about the origins of all belief systems. Growing up, we thought it sinful that Catholics used real wine for communion... and people got drunk at weddings! We were a strange bunch, for sure, but getting wiser over time.
So here we are, grown into today, rivers of water under our bridges, and we are still trying to answer B. Wordsworth's question, "What am I doing here?" All because of something some preacher or priest said to us before we were ready...
Vol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I might have been excited when I was old enough to have wine at church...but I never liked wine.
read moreI might have been excited when I was old enough to have wine at church...but I never liked wine.
Yes, Catholicism has its beliefs...and they no longer coincide with mine.
thanks for your sharing, Vol.
j.