T. Clear


Not a Catholic


Not catechism, but a free press.
Not First Holy Communion, but at least one meal a day.

Not sin, but a human condition.
Not confession, but truth.

Not a hair shirt, but a laundromat.
Not a martyr, but healthcare.

Not the Eucharist, but devil’s food cake.
Not his blood, but a ’59 Chateau Margaux.

Not abstinence, but contraception.
Not Immaculate Conception, but consent.

Not a priest, but a lover.
Not a nun, but a lover.

Not a sacred heart, but a stem cell.
Not a pope, but a poet.

Not a crucifix, but an old growth forest.
Not a rosary, but good luck.

T. Clear is a founder of Floating Bridge Press and an EasySpeak Seattle facilitator. She has been writing and publishing since the late 1970’s, and her work has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including Poetry Northwest, The Rise-Up Review, Red Earth Review, Terrain.org, The Moth, Common Ground Review, Crannog, The American Journal of Poetry, Verse Daily, and Take a Stand: Art Against Hate. Her book, A House, Undone, is the 2021 winner of the Sally Albiso Award from MoonPath Press. She is an Associate Editor at Bracken Magazine.

ISSN 2472-338X
© 2023