Natalie Young
SACRAMENT MEETING STARTED THE THREE HOURS OF CHURCH ON SUNDAY
A friend taught her how to pass the time: flip through
the hymn book and add “in the bathtub”
after any song title: “How Great Thou Art...in the Bathtub”
“Now Let Us Rejoice...in the Bathtub”
“Did You Think to Pray in the Bathtub?” “Know This,
That Every Soul Is Free in the Bathtub.”
An hour of speeches broken up by hymns,
prayers and eating Christ’s blood and body (blessed,
white Wonder Bread and a doll’s cup
of water for each worthy member).
She no longer sits through church meetings or questions
her questioning, though often hums those hymns
around the house, slips holy
ingrained choruses into a tub of hot water.
Ears immersed, She can hear the sounds
of her own choir. The heart’s bahdum, bah-dum
bahdum, too fast for its own good. “Rejoice a Glorious Sound
Is Heard...in the Bathtub.” From a gurgle
to a shout, rustling empty
stomach. Whooshes of breath tunnel in and out. Hard enough
to simply sit still, then left to a porcelain amphitheater—
“Where Can I Turn for Peace?” In the bathtub
thoughts thud and whirl. “Come Along, Come Along”
“With All the Power of Heart and Tongue.”
Maintenance of this submerged body
too tough, too much “Master the Tempest Is Raging.”
Not enough still, small whisper:
“Ye Simple Souls Who Stray”
“Let Us All Press On.”
Natalie Young’s poetry has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Rattle, Tampa Review, Tar River Review, Green Mountains Review, South Dakota Review, Terrain.org, and others. She is a founding and managing editor for Sugar House Review. Natalie is half Puerto Rican and half Brigham Young. NatalieYoungArts.com