footsteps from the mosque /church / synagogue
the bullet from the car killed
the child
the innocent child and her mother
hands still linked fingers
heat street sweat stink
a summerless hand stretches
no home less food just tired eyes
and windowless protection
no belonging here, Maslow
these children and soulless
bodies are just that.
Pol I Tics,
they tell me, money for bankers
money for the lawmakers
pondscum floating
from the belfry bricks sing
the hazzan, muezzin, and choir
beg for peace / beg for blessings
in a minor chord
hopeless and hopeful
juxtaposed death threats
from a god who is absent
hiding from gunfire, bombs,
violence, soiled lives in soiled times
from a cylinder fire rises
below the steeple, below god’s tattoo
hands warm while souls freeze
hard against hope and TV dreams
clouds above, god’s light a prismatic
disco ball dancing over torn flannel
shirts and blood on the corner
inside stained glass sharply colors
the blessed, hatted and jeweled.
is that you, god? on the altar?
candle illuminated, incensed?
White-gloved and basket droppings
for those who wait at the door
just waiting their turn