Even Though I Am Weary of Church Pews, She Is Not by Katie Bowers touches on the challenges of faith and belief, and on parenthood and childhood. Katie wrote this poem last year during the peak of the pandemic, when her daughter had taken to painting a third eye on her forehead each day.
Even Though I Am Weary of Church Pews, She Is Not
Our daughter paints the third eye on her forehead.
The first day she began doing this she painted one
on me and her father—a small red circle.
Before dinner, she folds her hands and closes her eyes.
She sings a blessing in her bold gentle voice.
Her father, too, folds his hands, closes his eyes.
My daughter is a constant reminder that
even though I am weary of church pews, she is not.
My daughter is a constant reminder that
even though church pews make me weary, she does not.
As I wipe caked paint from her eyebrows, she complains,
offended, that I am wiping away art.
She asks if she can at least keep her third eye,
painted with care in the middle of her forehead
next to a freckle, an errant strand of curl—
an outward representation of what seems
to naturally exist.
Katie Bowers
Katie Ellen Bowers is a poet and educator living in Heath Springs, SC with her husband and daughter. Her work has been published in Kakalak, Broad River Review, and Levee Magazine.
This is so beautiful! I love every word.