The Doorman, by Margaret Langhans

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Knock and it will be opened.
Ah, said gentle Francis,
fingering the keys of the kingdom
in the pocket of his white cassock.
That door is closed.
There is, of course, a separate entrance
for the so-precious ladies,
around the back,
near the shrine of the Madonna.
But that massive bronze door,
admittedly tarnished,
is closed.

"The Doorman," by teacher Margaret Langhans.

Last month The Los Angeles Times called for Opinion poetry by Times readers, and above was one of my favorites.

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Who knew?

When we put out a call for Op-Ed poetry, we had no idea how many budding poets were out there. But by the time the Aug. 16 deadline rolled around, we'd gotten more than 1,500 submissions, many of them including multiple poems. There was even one, by E. Milton Wilson of Claremont, addressing the plight of the opinion editors: “The deadline nears. The poets have spoke. Editors wish about now it had all been a joke!”