The Country Church
We giggle,
can’t stop,
The woman in furs
coughs in bursts
I still hear.
The boy who never grew
lies in a carriage.
Viola brings
the madwomen
she houses for a fee,
The priest talks torture,
rats tied to cages
on stomachs, no way out,
His German Shepherd
precision trained
greets with abandon.
This place,
for outsiders
this welcome.