The nun stood in front
of the boys' Sunday morning
sixth grade CCD class,
as big and black and unmovable
as any mountain there ever was,
and from somewhere behind
all of those black clothes
she dreamt out loud
about heaven,
while Billy Balinski,
with his mind out the window,
tried to figure out what the heck
CCD stood for.
One of the C's had to be Catholic,
but durned if he could get the other two.

"And in heaven the wine
flows from fountains like water..."

Billy's uncle had given him wine once.
Billy still remembered
running to the bathroom
to spit it out
while his uncle laughed like a lunatic
Billy had seen once in a movie.

"...and in heaven the streets
are cobbled with gold..."

Billy couldn't ride his bicycle on the street
in front of his grandmother's house
because it was cobbled.
But if it must be cobbled,
why not chocolate?
At least you could eat chocolate.

"...and only good little boys and girls
get to go to heaven..."