Devon Balwit

When not teaching, Devon Balwit sets her hand to the plough and chases chickens in Portland, OR. Her most recent collections are Rubbing Shoulders with the Greats [Seven Kitchens Press, 2020] and Dog-Walking in the Shadow of Pyongyang [Nixes Mate Books, 2021]. For more, visit her website: https://pelapdx.wixsite.com/devonbalwitpoet

no surprise

He’d show ’em … how he could build up church membership, build up the collections, get ’em all going with his eloquence — and, of course, carry the message of salvation into darkened hearts.

                                                                    Elmer Gantry

When I left the church, the rector didn’t call.

I didn’t expect it. I’d been a bust—small

change in the collection plate, not a joiner,

an odd soul looking for salvation from the corner

pew—a Jew, no less, sneaking in

by means of old connections. I’d been

in and out before, a bad bet

from the start. Even so, I let

my empty inbox grieve me. God,

whom I was fleeing, was the only one who’d

miss me. The rector had her true flock

to consider—the regulars who didn’t eye the clock

or fidget, who took on the business side

of faith and didn’t need coddling to abide.

Read more of Devon’s work in Solum Journal Volume II.