Anthony Nicholls
Ordinary Arson
She never wanted him to work the farms
but he abandoned the priesthood for her.
On the first night of their honeymoon,
she stopped in the middle of everything,
kissed his bare feet and said,
'Communion never tasted so good.
It’s like a blessed unction from above.'
The farmer who hired him
and first saw the fire
became the subject of talk. He's divorced now.
He speaks of unrequited love in his sleep.
He looks like a creep. Others believe
her husband, the ex-priest, lost so much,
he'd not have spat if he'd seen her in flames.
Two other things. Although her death
was lost in the haze and not
recorded as an accident or considered a shock,
the puppy the ex-priest bought his bride
as an adult dog was shot.
It wasn't the Welsh nationalists either.
It went down as ordinary arson.
but he abandoned the priesthood for her.
On the first night of their honeymoon,
she stopped in the middle of everything,
kissed his bare feet and said,
'Communion never tasted so good.
It’s like a blessed unction from above.'
The farmer who hired him
and first saw the fire
became the subject of talk. He's divorced now.
He speaks of unrequited love in his sleep.
He looks like a creep. Others believe
her husband, the ex-priest, lost so much,
he'd not have spat if he'd seen her in flames.
Two other things. Although her death
was lost in the haze and not
recorded as an accident or considered a shock,
the puppy the ex-priest bought his bride
as an adult dog was shot.
It wasn't the Welsh nationalists either.
It went down as ordinary arson.
Antony Nicholls lives in South London. He hosts weekly poetry nights at Yates Tavern in Lewisham. Poems soon in Orbis, Frogmore Papers, The Reater and Dreamcatcher.
Page(s) 99
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