In elementary school
on a class trip
we went to St. John’s
and I was taken by the spirit of the Lord
which I found
because the architecture was so groovy.

I was lost
among the glorious stained glass
so bright and colorful
awe-struck.
I rushed home
to break the news
to my Jew Dad.
Mine was not a religious upbringing
but I knew which God
buttered my bread
and what my Dad would say about it.

He explained to me
that Jews built buildings, too,
and talked about ruins in Israel
and Synagogues the world over
and asked me to think over my desire to convert
and we’d discuss the topic later.

Jesus had already exited me
by the end of that conversation.
I was saved from the Christian faith
by my father’s stalling tactics
and my own childhood inertia.