Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Arts & CulturePoetryFebruary 2021 issue

Your Presence Is Requested

MK PunkyJanuary 21, 2021

When invitations arrived on consecutive days
for two funerals
both friends
one a lover
he pawed through his closet
like a bear in a blackberry bramble
and found his one black suit
unsuitable for public consumption
delicious to moths with an appetite for tropical weight wool
keen to teach their evolutionary superiors
the infinite depth
inside a newly announced hole

More: Poems / Poetry
MK Punky

MK Punky is the author of the novel Year 14, the memoirs The Smart Money and The Unexpected Guest, and the travelogue Ella in Europe.

Provide feedback on this article

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

Most popular

1
Catholics take a stand against Trump’s cruel anti-immigrant actions at the U.S. border
Rafael García, S.J.
2
JD Vance, Ukraine and the nihilism of MAGA
Anthony R. Lusvardi, S.J.
3
Pope Francis shares his own health update: I am experiencing healing, in my soul and body
Gerard O’Connell
4
Review: Charles Taylor on how poetry expresses our deepest yearnings
James K. A. Smith
5
Update: Pope Francis is in ‘good humor’ as he recovers at the Vatican
Gerard O’Connell

Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

Mercy Center Auburn
Retreat Houses, Retreats
Loyola Institute for Spirituality
Retreat Houses, Retreats
Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford
Retreat Houses, Retreats
Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos
Retreat Houses, Retreats
Loyola House – Retreats & Ignatian Training, Ignatius Jesuit Centre
Retreat Houses, Retreats
See all Classifieds

The latest from america

Zoom Event | Praying through Holy Week with ‘Jesuitical’ and Father James Martin
As we enter into Holy Week, join America Media for a subscriber-only virtual event with James Martin, S.J., and ‘Jesuitical’ hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless.
America StaffApril 01, 2025
First-of-its-kind sensory room at church welcomes neurodivergent parishioners
“Having a sensory room in a place of worship is probably more important than anywhere else because everyone should feel welcome in their faith.”
Sean QuinnApril 01, 2025
‘Only baseball and love are eternal.’ Reflections on our national pastime
Sports hasn't always been the most popular topic among America's editors and contributors—unless it was the Grand Old Game, baseball.
James T. KeaneApril 01, 2025
Report: 10 million Christians in US at risk of mass deportation
A joint Catholic-Evangelical report found that an overwhelming majority of people impacted by the Trump administration's mass deportations are Christian.
Kate Scanlon - OSV NewsApril 01, 2025