Last Rites

by Villegas, Megan A.

As a collection of poetry, "Last Rites" begins to examine the impact being raised in an organized religion, specifically Catholicism, has on an adult search for meaning. The introduction discusses the work of Andrew Hudgins as an established poet in a similar tradition of religious inquiry. Hudgins' work reveals the disconnect between the human body one experiences life with, and the spiritual body governed by some higher power. The poems in "Last Rites" work toward those revelations, looking to find a capital "T" truth outside the bounds of an institution while still acknowledging the power that institution has over the speaker/writer.