"When the world was green around me, /and god dozed. . . . ." Thus begins a tale that is part love story and part spiritual journey, one that starts in a small, Oklahoma town. In linked poems, "Dancing with a Baptist" relates a girl's coming of age. Reared in a fundamentalist town, Eliza struggles with the messages around her, mixed messages that hobble the dance of joy she desires. As she seeks to broaden her world, she explores different myths and celebrates various holidays. Then, when it is time to leave for college, she declares, "I set out for my kingdom."Of course, the journey will not be straightforward. And the steps will be difficult. In her new world, Eliza finds a professor who soon becomes her muse. His gray hair evokes for her the angel of silver (Michael) and the god of quicksilver (Mercury), both of whom are guides of souls. Eager for such a guide, she soon "fall[s] halfway toward love"-and then completely. This new world seems at first paradisal, as the two move ever closer to each other. But when the dance spirals downward, Eliza learns that if she wants to move with grace, she must first be broken. "Dancing with a Baptist" portrays the struggle to integrate the mythic and the mundane and, finally, the ethical. In this parable, the hero rediscovers that one must sometimes journey through the desert to get back to the green kingdom. Written by a National Poetry Series finalist.