Jared Pearce
Address
Our Father, I'm told to use thee and thine and thy when
I pray, because the Lord's Prayer, as set down
In the King's Bible does so, and to show reverence,
You being the Ruler of Everywhere. But in James's
Day, I understand, You was formal and Thee familiar—
And some languages use the du or the tu, and the revised
Bible uses You. Perhaps at your age a little pronoun
Is irrelevant, but I want to obey Your protocol.
I understand the larger shake-up when Jesus
Calls you, Dad, pulling Thee straight to the planet,
Thy coming in from a long day at the office,
Slipping into a robe and slippers behind newsprint,
Smoking-up thine halo, and about to get up
And whip us kids in a game of Risk.
Bio
Some of Jared Pearce's poems have recently been or will soon be shared in Red River Review, Lampeter Review, Rosebud, Review Americana, and Quail Bell. His debut collection is due from Aubade Press in 2018.