The Significance of Blueberries in Divine Election

from Miracle Strip by Matt Layne

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

Purchasable with gift card

name your price
Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

The Significance of Blueberries in Divine Election

Fixing toast on a Sunday morning,
I notice the last bit of blueberry preserves
smear into a Rorschach Christ.

A black-and-white inkblot Jesus used to hang
on the yellow refrigerator of my childhood.
I stared for hours, willing the shadow swirls
to give up the ghost of Christ, but He hid
in the mystery of monochrome.

My brother said I was a fake Christian.
I lied, pretended to see,
only Jesus and I, the wiser.

As miracles go, a jam jar Christ seems insignificant,
but here we are, you reading these words,
and me divining some historical divinity
from a bit of fruit, pectin, and sugar,

I don’t know where this poem is going,
so I’ll reserve these last few lines to speak
to the kid who couldn’t find Jesus:

Watch water drops race up the station wagon windshield.
Count the colors on the back of the box turtle.
Fight when you have to, and walk away when you can.
One day you will find yourself at the end of this poem.

credits

from Miracle Strip, released August 31, 2022

license

about

Matt Layne Birmingham, Alabama

Poet, librarian, raconteur; Matt Layne has been poking hornet's nests and looking under rocks since he was knee-high to a peanut peg.
I reckon you oughta check him out.