Meals with My Mother

A compacter crunches doves in a clouded bog.

The preacher screams, Wildwood Church crumbles

—– into soft summer earth

Welcome the new believer, herald the sermon’s prelude

—– With a flame-backed mandolin

Welcome the congregation, yellow waders, swamp water

—– And third-edition hymnals

The deacons grin from the warm shore as they sing.

My Mother takes a piece of soggy corndog grass and tastes it.

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Tyler Zencka graduated from St. Olaf College in the spring with a B.A. in Religion and Family Studies.  He now lives on a quarter horse ranch in Arizona and works part-time at a movie theater.