Lord, send us a priest

Or someone who will speak the truth at least

Free from doubt, yet still without

That chapel lord’s disdain for the few who never knew

And the others lost in pain

Lord, send us a priest

Some patron saint who’ll march into the breach

With the grace as smooth as silk, yet heavy as the blade—

Who’ll brave the screams and stay unbowed where lesser men would fade

Lord, send us a priest

A candidate whose palms are still ungrеased

With the roar of quiet voicеs

Dragging back to life —

Demanding more than sermons red

From worn out scripts of strife

Lord, send us a priest

From the Vatican, or maybe further east—

Bearing scars of foreign wars

Who’s wrestled death and hell—

Who knows these streets, knows how they seethe

Because he’s walked them well

Lord, send us a priest

An exorcist to stand against the beast—

With the brass to hold his hand

Above the Devil's flame—

Whose crucifix and Creole tongue

Will force the fallen one to speak its name

Lord, send us a priest

A new messiah—slightly less deceased

His holy grail —a paper cup

Half-filled with Pepsi cola —

Acidic as Leviticus

And still angry that it’s over

Or better yet, Lord — send a storm

An avalanche in female form —

Her ice-blue lips

Spelling ancient prophecies of doom;

Her open legs

Her bridal gown —

The bait for her would-be grooms

Her “something old,”

A cold bouquet

That freezes as it blooms —

And as they kneel

To claim their prize

Let shadows spill

Across their eyes;

To blind them as

She lifts her veil

And leave them there

Like willing slaves

And in her wake

That long white train

In pure white waves

Should thunder down

And seal their souls

Inside their frozen graves

Lord, send me a priest—

It’s been too long since I was last at peace

If not for scars, there’d be no proof of me

It's just that I can't un-confuse

The things I know from all the things I see

Please, Lord

Send me a priest

Amen