Sherry Chandler » Tina Parker
Tina Parker
Tina Parker was a fellow member of the Jim Hall master class in 2000 and is a fellow member of Mosaic. She is featured in the Sideshow exhibit and has a poem forthcoming in Defect Cult. The poem below is from Limestone 2001.
Professions of Faith
I. Baptism, 1986
I twirled baton in my front yard
afterwards, listened
to Madonna sing Open your heart
to me, imagined myself blonde,
a full-chested cherub now able
to snack on crackers and grape
juice on Sundays in the church.
Then I hit STOP on my pink boom
box, asked forgiveness.
This is how I’m different, I thought.
Then I threw my baton into the air,
turned a full circle,
and watched it fall, end to end,
to the ground.
II. Rededication, 1988
I stood at my pew until the last
chorus
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling
thought of the dirty words I’d called
my brother
Come home, come home
Down front, the preacher asked
salvation, rededication, or the mission field.
I closed my eyes, guessed at the middle
one, wondered if I’d be baptized
again. There must’ve been a prayer,
a presentation to the rows of teen
campers. I only remember waiting
in line for the pay phone, anxious
to tell my parents. My turn, I told
of tie-dying T-shirts and having
fried chicken for dinner.
III. The Missionary, 1990
Lottie Moon married God,
went with him to China.
I would serve Senegal,
except for my crush
on the visiting singer.
I tried to answer the call
during his rendition of In the Garden
but instead re-wrote the chorus…
Andy walks with me, Andy talks
with me, Andy tells me I am his own.
Blushing from the first row
I vowed instead to learn French
and give half my wages in waitress
tips to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
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