the church had a slogan for it: JOY, meaning that one tried to please Jesus first, then Others, and only if there was time left over Yourself later, after i had given up, i called the mothers’ group that met in the rectory basement the Martyrdom Olympics if i mentioned i’d been sick every other mother had been sicker and while deathly ill also had driven one hundred fifty miles for sports drop-off and iced three classrooms’ worth of cupcakes on the way when they asked how many children i had their response always was the same—“only two?” not just because it suggested I was using birth control but also because it meant i wasn’t suffering enough one of the expressions everyone repeated was “offer it up” meaning give your suffering to God and one time i made the room fall silent when i blurted out “but why would He want it?”
Doritt Carroll is a native of Washington, DC. Doritt is the winner of Harbor Review’s 2020 Laura Lee Washburn prize for her chapbook, A Meditation on Purgatory. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Main Street Rag and RHINO, among others. Her collection, GLTTL STP, was published by Brickhouse Books. Her chapbook, Sorry You Are Not An Instant Winner, was published by Kattywompus (2017). She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
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Totally love this poem. I so know those church basement ladies.