Friday, August 14, 2009

go and sin some more (16)



go & sin some more


do i need more bass in my voice?
is something wrong with my vibrato?
is my do-ti-so-mi-so-la-ti-la sam cooke
arpeggio unconvincing?
why can't i get them to shout?
i can't even get a spirited amen. when i sing:
"i have felt the stain of sin"
the saints merely smile.
what do i have to do, rob a bank.
is my song that transparent? is even my sin
second rate. brother adams sounds like he
has a permanent cold; is always clearing his
middle-aged throat. but all he has to do is
hit one phlegmy note & the screams fly out of those
church women like birds out of open cages.
"thank ya, jee-sus!" they say & fan themselves faster,
his vocal mistakes obscured by the noise they make.
what am i to do? must i squeeze an
ocean of feeling out of my throat & chest?
or must i go & sin some more?


©Joseph McNair; 1992-2009

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