by Elle Mae

“The Sermon on the Mississippi”

I will look elsewhere for God.
I don’t know if She is here anymore.
But I remember seeing Her in the flickering fireflies swirling around my head as I ran through the damp dark grasses by the Mississippi.
And I think I saw Her the other day in the new florist down the street as she slipped money into the register for flowers to take to her newly divorced friend.
Maybe She slept in the palm of a nurse holding his patient’s wrinkled hand for an hour after his shift was over.
And maybe God is found where She said She would be all along.
“With them.”
the spiritually homeless
the private mourners
the meek misunderstood
the goodness hungry
the mercy givers
the transparent hearts
the wall breakers
and those who are “too much.”
So now when I have lost God
I wait for Her by the Mississippi.

Elle Mae is a queer Mormon feminist who believes everyone has a spark of the Divine within themselves. She is a poet, singer, and student