The chaplain sighs before his congregation of plastic
chairs, a cartoon yellow Eucharist fixed above the pulpit,
a construction paper halo fading behind his grey head.
Soon the Lord’s guests will trail inside, goaded by nurses
and exhausted aides. As the patients have been restless,
it falls to him to deliver the sermon again—to reign in
the unruly spirits, urge them to perform a kindness
for their caretakers, take their meds and exercise patience:
heavenly freedom from mental constraints is a generous
reward. The chaplain no longer notices how the chairs
are affixed to the floor, that the hymn-books are protected
by supple covers. He feeds his audience Christ’s passion
in muted tones, God’s flesh the antidote to their demons.
One woman raises her hands skyward and an aide subdues
her before she can cry out. Another wants to ask a question
and is quietened. Thus rebuked, the patients stare through
the chaplain as their minds wander away to join the rootless
white clouds. Outside the sealed windows, they rejoice in shifting
shapes, transforming dandelion fluff to dolphins flipping
through feathered sky while the chaplain’s voice winds around
their legs like snakes.
The Chaplain
Lake Angela is a poet, translator, and dancer-choreographer who creates at the confluence of verbal language and movement. She holds a PhD in the intersemiotic translation of Austrian Expressionist poetry into dance and has her MFA in poetry. She is a medieval mystic, beguine, and nonhuman creature. Her full-length books of poetry, Organblooms (2020) and Words for the Dead (2021), are available from FutureCycle Press. Lake is poetry editor for the international literature and arts journal Punt Volat and writes advocacy articles for the Swedish publication Brainz Magazine. As director of the poetry-dance group Companyia Lake Angela, she presents the value of schizophrenia spectrum creativity. You can visit her at www.lakeangeladance.com.