A Pilgrim's Song

By Royal Rhodes

---

My body, broken
like old bread
that kept me alive,

bears the sound
of this last song
I learned on the road,

behind and before me.
It was food for the way
that each day provided.

And when it is gone,
none will remember.
But what will you do

with my heart?

---

Royal Rhodes taught religious studies for almost 40 years. His poems have appeared in various journals, including Ekstasis, Ekphrastic Review, The Seventh Quarry, and The Montreal Review, among others. His poetry and art collaborations have been published with The Catbird [on the Yadkin] Press in North Carolina.

Royal's other work on Foreshadow:
A Road Through Ohio Spring (Poetry, April 2023)