I Lost God Last Week

Claire Scott

He was in the pocket of my favorite jeans, but must have slipped out or been
swallowed by the spin cycle. Sorry god. Sometimes it’s hard to get things right.
We talked a lot. He understood my fears, particularly of pigeons. Although he
did get upset when I poisoned an entire batch of them. But agreed not to say
prayers for the rotting winged-rats. He knew I siphoned cash from the
pawnshop, juggled the books, built a swimming pool. The problem was god
loves to swim. So he looked the other way. He knew I lowballed the treasures
people brought in. A five carat diamond ring that I said was fake, hoping the
tear-stained woman wouldn’t return. The stamp collection with a rare 1851
three-cent stamp, but the owner didn’t know and had four kids to feed. I gave
him ten dollars. God fussed a bit, but then went for a swim. I remember
afterward he looked a bit pale. I posted notices MISSING GOD. I put an ad on
Next Door South. I lost god last week. But perhaps god lost me.

Claire Scott is an award winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has been accepted by the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, New Ohio Review, Enizagam and Healing Muse among others. Claire is the author of Waiting to be Called and Until I Couldn’t. She is the co-author of Unfolding in Light: A Sisters’ Journey in Photography and Poetry.