The Minister Poem by Gert Strydom

When the minister
came to visit the farm
we felt like sinners
and even the labourers looked at him
and he was holy
and dressed as a holy one should be
in a black suit
and shoes that shone.

I heard that poor Nick and Mary
had a child
born out of wedlock
and that they were expelled
from church
when they took the toddler there
as sinners spreading sins about.

We crept around the corner of the house
to see what the holy father did
and he wasn’t on his knees,
but was playing house instead
and took the elder’s wife to bed.