top of page

chapel song

Writer's picture: Eliza RudalevigeEliza Rudalevige

By Eliza Rudalevige

A small farewell from one of your literary editors.


My father and I, we sing loudly in church;

it's one of the few things we still have in common.

And even then, it’s a rare occurrence

when we both sit in the pews of

my lazy, lovely, disjointed youth

and harmonize, literally.

He always sight-reads the bass line.

I would say he gets it about two-thirds right,

on a lucky day. On these unlucky days,

it’s the good part of church:

the faith laden in the music,

the bottom-worn bench beneath us,

my father fumbling through the

gentle tangle of notes.


Illustration by Samia Menon



Recent Posts

See All

Wandering Stars

By George Murphy No city lights scrape away our stars here. The wind comes and goes in darkness, and owls softly boom, as small creatures...

bottom of page