“The Evangelist” by Katherine Koller

Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “The Evangelist” by Katherine Koller.


The Evangelist

By Katherine Koller

he slept on a metal bench in the sun

feet socked at the heels, toes exposed

face tucked in serene comfort

like the bent-headed contemplation

of the gilded copper medieval

miniature of Mark

writing gospels of loaves and fishes

and needleโ€™s eyes and riches

with half-bared feet

when his eyes opened and

he smiled at me holding

your ninety-three-year-old arm

hurrying away

from what the evangelist might say

in the golden light of the last day of summer


Copyright ยฉ Katherine Koller

Previously published in Fire from the Heart, 2025.

Books by Katherine Koller are Voices of the Land: The Seed Savers and Other Plays, Art Lessons, a novel, and two story collections, Winning Chance and Earthen. Her poetry has appeared in Prairie Journal, NorthWord, Happiness Reflected, Funicular, The Lupine Review, Fire from the Heart and online at Poetry Pause. โ€œThe Evangelistโ€ was the Fortunaโ€™s Choice winner in the 2025 Murielโ€™s Journey Prize.


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