Faiing the Tests

Everyone has one. A test. A demand that I be pink or blue
or some other color of their choosing, a color
that defines and over runs everything else,
even, or maybe especially, the things that are important.
Which is why I choose to float above the tests,
refusing to take them or be taken by them,
ready to be defined by no more than my love
of my fellow flaws.

About this poem

One of my best moments as pastor of my church is when a certain member, well known for his conservativism, introduced me as “Tom, my pastor. He’s a lberal Democrat, but he’s all right!”. Life as it should be.

The picture of litmus test tubes is from Loot, my favorite little antique store in Turner’s Falls, MA, where they sell recovered industrial and scientific curiosities from factories and labs.

Tom