I tell my Sunday School teacher after
class this morning, she tossed me for chewing
gum and blowing bubbles out of it which
isn’t easy to do, it’s not bubble
gum and the bubbles I blow, I blow small
but it was the best I could do and why
couldn’t she see that but she said she saw
and that my skill was not in question, just
my seriousness about religion
–there’s a time and place for everything, which
I guess is true and I don’t want to die
and go to Hell and then have the Devil
laugh at me for being stupid and yet
talented. God would say the same damn thing.
Gale Acuff has had poetry published in Ascent, Reed, Poet Lore, Chiron Review, Cardiff Review, Poem, Adirondack Review, Florida Review, Slant, Nebo, Arkansas Review, South Dakota Review, Roanoke Review and many other journals in a dozen countries. He has authored three books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel, The Weight of the World, and The Story of My Lives. Gale has taught university English courses in the US, China, and Palestine.