Father, forgive me, it's been
something like thirty years
since my last confession
I think that's how you start an official confession
in the Roman Catholic tradition of my youth
but now, being a Methodist
I admit to missing
the sanctity and scent
not of clean, polished wood
but the breath and sorrow of other sinners
of the dark
of the two uncomfortable stalls
joined by a sliding screen
opened and closed
by the priest
that held me on one side
and God's forgiveness on the other