On Being Asked by My Friend’s Minister if I’ve Found the Lord by Brett Elizabeth Jenkins


 
 
I say, I have looked, I have looked
places. I say, he is definitely not
 
in my glove compartment.
I take out the cigarette case I retrieved earlier
 
from my glove compartment and ask is it okay
if I smoke in here?
I say, has he been looking for me?
 
You know, it just gets so dark in the winter
and I hardly have the energy to shower.
 
I don’t want the Lord
seeing me like this, and I so seldom
 
wear pants. I say, what will the Lord do
if he finds me first? I say, sometimes
 
when I’m alone in the apartment, I yell
Olly Olly Oxen Free!
 
 
 
Brett Elizabeth Jenkins lives and writes in Saint Paul. Look for her work in Beloit Poetry Journal, PANK, Potomac Review, Revolver, Paper Darts, RHINO, and elsewhere.