Sister Irmalene,
appointed to rule the sacristy
when Sister Leonella died
after a thirty-year reign,
issued a proclamation
that all stipends paid to altar boys
for weddings and funerals
be deemed the property
of Guardian Angels Church
and promptly remitted to her,
i.e., as soon as possible
after the rice celebration
or following internment.
Failure to comply would result
in immediate discharge from the ranks
of the Knights of the Altar.
Rather than be fired
I enlisted at a young age
in the capitalist brigades.
I quit.
All that day after my last funeral
I savored the alloy and heft
of the fifty cent piece
concealed in the right pocket
of my corduroy uniform.