This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Philip C. Kolin.
“My grandmother used to say, ‘Burial shrouds don’t have pockets.’” – Pope Francis, Palm Sunday 2013
Shrouds Don’t Have Pockets
The Bible gives sound advice
about estate planning that will benefit you here and
the hereafter. First, use a bank
that will safeguard your soul’s
assets in heaven where the books
are holy honest and your interest
never goes down. The best deposits
are tithing and supplying food and shelter
for the poor. They will be there when
Jesus asks for an account of your life.
Earthly treasure is eaten by moths
gulped down by greed, and crumbles
to rust. It is counterfeit wealth and
and leads borrowers into a depression.
Beware of those with deep pockets
who have bankrupt hearts and shallow souls.
They forget that shrouds have no pockets.
Philip C. Kolin is the Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus and Editor Emeritus of the Southern Quarterly at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 40 books on Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams as well as fifteen collections of poetry, among them Benedict’s Daughter: Poems (Wipf and Stock, 2017), Wholly God’s: Poems (Wind and Water Press, 2021), and Mapping Trauma: Poems about Black History (Third World Press, 2023).
