Hair teased and hairspray halo rolled into
a beehive with a thousand bobby-pins.
Uniform starched and pressed,
hanging below the knee.
Slip resistance shoes, there's a lot
of truckers and souls to save tonight.
She's serving food with a side
of praise. Glory be his name.
"What ails you hon, I'll pray for you."
Don't matter if you believe, she's got
enough faith to heal your heartburn
and heartache. There's a pocket bible
in her apron with her order pad.
Leave a tip she'll throw in a prayer for free.
Who knew holy roller was a speed demon.
"Why yes, officer I did wait on you."
With a wink, he lets her slide.
Sins forgiven. God's got an eye on her.
Her uniform graces the floor by the door,
there's a dirty slip beneath.
Her children are wailing.
She's too tired to care, she broke her
smile on that last prayer.
She eats dinner without saying grace.
Her oldest is the fool for cooking.
Bible verse thumping headache.
Wake up kid, quiet your sister.
Truck stop preacher counts her tips;
There's a tithe to pay, pass the offering plate.
She's the donation queen.
Let God provide for her
children. She needs sleep
and the flock needs more sheep.
Truck Stop Preacher by Sage Ravenwood | Pink Peony Poetry Reed Diffuser Set
Sage Ravenwood is a deaf Cherokee woman residing in upstate NY. She is an outspoken advocate against animal cruelty and domestic violence. Her work can be found in The Temz Review, Contrary, Grain, Sundress Press anthology - The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry, The Rumpus, Lit Quarterly, PØST, Massachusetts Review, Savant-Garde, ANMLY (Anomaly), River Mouth Review, Santa Clara Review, The Normal School, UCity Review, Janus Literary, Jelly Bucket, Colorado Review, Pangyrus, PRISM Inter-national, 128 Lit, A Gathering of the Tribes, Ponder Review, Saranac Review, Shō Poetry Journal, MORIA, Indianapolis Review, Scavenger’s Lit, South Dakota Review, and more. Her book, ‘Everything That Hurt Us Becomes a Ghost’ is available from Gallaudet University Press.
