Poem-A-Day: Elise Paschen, Division Street

	August 2, 2012 Today's poem is copyright © 2012 by Elise Paschen. Used with permission of the author. More from this author Related Poems A Lesson for This Sunday by Derek Walcott Prayer by Jorie Graham Screening Desire by R. Zamora Linmark You can unsubscribe from our Poem-A-Day emails at at anytime—either completely, or until next April. Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane Suite 901 New York, NY 10038 212-274-0343 academy@poets.org		Division Street by Elise Paschen                          ". . . Prayer book and Mother, shot themselves last Sunday."                                         Gwendolyn Brooks The spire of Holy Name Cathedral rose like a prayer above Chicago Avenue. I thumbed a leather-bound book in catechism class, recited the Hail Mary. Fire and devils blazed at night. The nuns told my mother I had a calling. On Scott Street a man lay shot dead in our alley. It was the Gold Coast. They prided themselves on sidewalks safe as shrines. I questioned God, the last to leave the room. Riots flared in Cabrini-Green that Sunday. Share Digg StumbleUpon Facebook E-mail to Friend