"they hang a sign on the church door" by Kate LaDew

important if true

big black letters still dripping

cars pull over, people get out

press their hands into the wet paint

fingerprints, unique in all the world,

pepper the sign, illegible,

the next day 

cars drive by, 

people peer out their windows,

what does it say? they ask each other,

eyes on the sign,

the triumphal cross above it

obscured by smears of black paint,

fingers dragged clean

Kate LaDew is a poet and short story writer. Putting her BA in Studio Arts to good use, she has side-hustles as a sketcher and origamist. Kate enjoys reading, streaming British murder-mysteries, and exploring historical cemeteries. She lives in Graham, NC with her cats, James Cagney and Janis Joplin. Her first poetry collection, what it feels like to be run over (mm/dd/yyyy), is upcoming from Westbrae Literary Group.

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