{"id":353,"date":"2011-08-20T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=353"},"modified":"2012-03-31T12:42:47","modified_gmt":"2012-03-31T12:42:47","slug":"fiona-sinclairs-church-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/fiona-sinclairs-church-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiona Sinclair’s ‘Church Shop’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Church Shop<\/span>
\u00a0<\/span>
The single outfit in the window <\/span>
suggests a couture boutique, <\/span>
hidden from the common shopper <\/span>
in this secluded lane.<\/span>
But drawing opposite,<\/span>
mother of the bride hat dissolves<\/span>
into the Norman arch of a bishop\u2019s mitre.<\/span>
I adopt a funeral mute\u2019s pace <\/span>
that enables discrete eyes right, <\/span>
unwilling to peer openly in the window at merchandise,<\/span>
for fear of meeting God\u2019s gaze behind the counter.<\/span>
A second visit and I melt amongst curious tourists,<\/span>
squinting into the interior the high church bling<\/span>
of icons and incense burners, surprises,<\/span>
and the choice of robes on rails contradicts<\/span>
my belief that standard vestments are issued on ordination.<\/span>
Now I imagine priests browsing for flattering colours,<\/span>
matching surplices with stoles. <\/span>
Weeks later, I present you with the shop,<\/span>
which you regard like an eccentric gift,<\/span>
my innuendos having lead you to expect a sex emporium.<\/span>
Nevertheless, giggling we push the door but sober up <\/span>
at the shop\u2019s church quiet.<\/span>
As if obeying an invisible \u2018Do not touch\u2019 sign,<\/span>
we gape at the shelves of beseeching Madonnas,<\/span>
Christs thrusting out bleeding palms,<\/span>
crosses bearing down like a crusading army,<\/span>
crucifixes recreating miniature Golgothas,<\/span>
You stammer, Who would\u2026?\u00a0 They are so\u2026. <\/span>
whilst I can\u2019t even muster a chuckle <\/span>
at the display of rock star Jesus mugs. <\/span>
Your I must get out of here<\/span>
is the starting gun for our rapid exit.<\/span>
Outside we gulp for air as if through oxygen masks<\/span>
then head back to the high street, <\/span>
jibbering about summer clothes.<\/span>

\n

*Fiona Sinclair<\/span>‘s <\/span>Dirty Laundry<\/a> is published by Koo Press.\u00a0 She is a regular reviewer for IS&T.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Church Shop\u00a0The single outfit in the window suggests a couture boutique, hidden from the common shopper in this secluded lane.But drawing opposite,mother of the bride hat dissolvesinto the Norman arch of a bishop\u2019s mitre.I adopt a funeral mute\u2019s pace that enables discrete eyes right, unwilling to peer openly in the window at merchandise,for fear of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1856,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions\/1856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}