by Andrew Maust
Because He died
and said “This is my body”
I chewed the flat
white wafer.
When I realized
I had a piece
of his sacred sacrifice
embedded in my molar.
Mentally I debated
theological quandaries.
Did I have the actual
transubstantiated host
of my savior between my teeth?
Or only the metaphorical body of Christ?
My tongue declared one side
while my pearly white gates
stubbornly stuck to the other.
I took the wine
and tried to soften
the unleavened bread
until I could remove it
with the tip of my tongue.
But it remained
I begged the Father
for forgiveness
as His son’s blood
that was poured out for me
swished around my mouth
trying to dislodge
the holy host
that remained in my teeth.
Was this what He meant
when He said
“I am with you always?”
Andrew Maust grew up in Ecuador, Honduras, and Costa Rica to missionary parents. After a few years teaching freshman composition, he found a job at a nonprofit in Mesa, Arizona. In the margins of his day, he carves out time to write about small and sacred things, like the time he had a communion wafer stuck in his teeth.