Easter time especially, back then, Father Coughlin, 
in his weekly radio speeches, 
broadcast the evils of bankers 
and Jews, 
and my father, as a child, learned 
the trees that sheltered, the backyard paths, 
the safest routes to race 
back home from Tatnuck Elementary, 
to race on his skinny legs 
from the laughing blond boys 
who would chase him, yelling 
down Pleasant Street, past 
Tatnuck Cogregational, past Christ 
the King Catholic, yelling 
all the way to the first-floor rental 
on Brentwood, where my father 
leapt up the steps 
and slammed the door 
against Yid! 
Christ Killer! 
Kike! 

Poet’s Note:

Father Coughlin (1891–1979), “The Radio Priest,” was a Canadian-American Roman Catholic based near Detroit. In the 1930s, at the height of his popularity, he had 30 million listeners across the United States [Wikipedia].

Bio: Jennifer L. Freed