Protection

Abstract

Protection Frank X Walker (bio) Having witnessed foreign tongues and chants leaping out of the open mouths of the sanctified, I sat up wide-eyed, every time the spirit descended, randomly possessing and animating even the morbidly obese and aged; yanking them out of wooden pews with a shriek, spinning them like tops into narrow aisles, dancing them across the floor like wooden marionettes until sweat dripped from their spent bodies. I had smelled the devil on the breath of strange men with red eyes, who introduced themselves as uncle, but when the Bishop started secreting shiny half-dollars into my still innocent palms after Sunday school, mama traced a big plus sign across my forehead with virgin olive oil, and prayed, to keep me that way. [End Page 33] Frank X Walker Frank X Walker is the editor of PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture and currently serves as Lecturer of English and Artist in Residence at Northern Kentucky University. He is the author of four collections of poetry and the co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets. Copyright © 2008 Berea College