ZZZZZZ ZZZZZZ BUZZING (Poem)

ZZZZZZ ZZZZZZ BUZZING

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2025

Here we go again:

the choir sings sweet hymns,

and the collection plate is thin.

Pastor sweats, grins, and warns of sin.

The doors of the church open.

Church girls watch and pray for single men,

beg God for solutions,

retribution for devotion,

and God-fearing husbands.

Some pray for healing outside and within;

others seek forgiveness for fornication.

They relish in sacred spaces with seeking souls like them,

so much better than the silence of lovelessness,

Zzzzzz zzzzzz buzzing,

the 1 am “Hey big head” texts from tempting ex-boyfriends threatening abstinence.

“It takes consistency to be with me,” they say,

then pray the Rose of Sharon won’t mind

when they pull out Rose vibrators to unwind.

Zzzzzz zzzzzz buzzing,

a rushing feeling of the divine,

then seconds later, guilt climbs up their spines.

“This is why Jesus died,” they sigh, resigned.

“Thank God I’m saved,” they say. Then cry.

—

Written for Day 9 of National Poetry Writing Month