You rock the porch boards slow and low
Kettle screams in copper glow
Screen door hums a wire hymn
Altar smoke curls from the rim
Steam rises like a choir song Hallelujah hums along
Iron spout sings holy doubt
Prayer leaks from the iron mouth
Blue enamel chips at the handle base
Your thumb traces the worn-down place
Grandmother's spoon rests in the drawer
Wood grain holds the shape of prayer
Cicadas saw the evening air
Rocking rhythm matches prayer
No organ swell no stained glass light
Just steam and dark and porch boards white
Steam rises like a choir song
Hallelujah hums along
Iron spout sings holy doubt
Prayer leaks from the iron mouth
You stopped believing in the choir
But the kettle calls you higher
Not to heaven not to hell
Just the steam you know so well
Porch swing creaks a counterpoint
Kettle clicks and kills the joint
You pour the water watch it bloom
Dark as sin in kitchen gloom
Steam rises like a choir song Hallelujah hums along
Iron spout sings holy doubt
Prayer leaks from the iron mouth
Steam rises like a choir song
You hum along you hum along