Evangelical Spanish Wake Up Call

Originally posted 12/19/2013.

Before dawn
the clock radio
comes alive,
floods my room
with Spanish evangelism.
No music — pure preaching,
one man’s voice, 
one woman’s voice.

The only words
in the rapid flow 
I catch and understand 
are “contigo” and 
“alleluia,” but
I don’t need
the translation for the rest

as this whitewater pulse
of ecstasy and imprecation
soaks my morning
in splashes,
a torrent
rinsing away
any remnant of
unholy dreams.