Hell To Mary

I was never very religious

So I didn't learn the rules of God

When to sit down

When to stand up

Which days you can eat

Which days you can't

I didn't even know why I owned church shoes when

I was young

I never who the hell David, Michael

And Peter were

David killed a giant monster with a slingshot right?

I knew that

"What was the bread again?"

"Jesus's body, his skin?"

"Gross"

"Why are we drinking juice in such a dramatic way?"

"We're pretending it's Jesus's blood?"

"Really? Gross"

"Why was the oversized organ the choice instrument?"

It all seemed creepy to me

But that didn't stop my parents from sending me to a

Religous camp

I still couldn't tell you which one

Catholic, Protestant, Jewish

They're all the same to me

It didn't matter, camp to me was...

Juice boxes, a bouncy ball and tug of war

There was one thing that camp had us do that

Always confused me

Before we went swimming, everyone would line up

Around the pool and say,

"Hell to Mary, Hell to Mary"

Then we could jump in and swim

I knew about there being a God

And a Jesus son guy, psst he's everywhere

Even a virgin Mary

They're on the front burner of religion

But weren't we supposed to like them?

Why were we condemning Mary to hell, I thought

But I really just wanted to jump in the pool

So, I'd screm loud, like everyone else

"Hell to Mary, Hell to Mary!"

Splash!

David Mcwane