Sacrament: Two

This is what I remember about Comunion
the white dress
that my mother made,
the veil with the pearl that hung on my forehead
like the nameless princess in the Neverending Story.

I studied really hard,
my mother drilled me
every night on my
Ave Marias and Padre Nuestros
and even the sign of the cross-
which incidentally is longer in Spanish.

It was May- that's comunion season-
cloudy, winds whipping my dress around
so that in the pictures I look
like a jellyfish breathing.

I had to fast and Ruben drank his
licuado extra slow to torture me.
And when I took into my mouth
the flesh of the Lord
he tasted like paper.
I let him dissolve on
my tongue
because you're not supposed to
chew God with your teeth.
When he was soggy as a Kleenex
I swallowed and walked out
Glowing,
Jesus was in my belly.