Title: Sacred Heart

Author: Andrew Johnston

In: Sport 5: Spring 1990

Publication details: 1990, Wellington

Part of: Sport

Keywords: Verse Literature

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Sport 5: Spring 1990

Andrew Johnston — Sacred Heart

page 78

Andrew Johnston

Sacred Heart

Because Jane has forgotten the key
we both push Sarah through the art room window
after first having opened it.

There is someone here, she says,
appearing at the door
which may or may not have been open all along.

The woman in the staff room has a black plait
clear skin and round dark eyes
that contradict her smile.

She is the religious education teacher
she is a pure person in the spiritual sense.
She will forgive the art teacher

and a man she has never seen before
for pushing the daughter of the art teacher
through the art room window.

She has recently left her husband
she sings and plays the guitar
but the girls are not very interested in God.

We drive out past the old stone chapel.
The nuns' quarters are empty now.
The beautiful gardens are out of bounds.

page 79

Black and White Illustration