the children at church

the children,

pale

face and dark, bewildered

by

this long

morning, ordered to kneel

or stand up,

the gravity

of it all has not set in,

their minds

are elsewhere,

wandering

while the long

sermon

bathes them like

a dry wind.

there is the playground

to get to.

the sandwich,

the pretty

girl in pigtails,

the boy

in his vest

and shiny shoes with

hair combed,

behaved

for this short while.