The Needle’s Eye
On gracious paths
of manicured towns the fair
women with their smart hair
and cultivated bodies, power-walk
their biddable dogs.
On verdant lawns
toil the men, brown mostly,
skin tattooed with soil,
bodies durable but bent
under the weight of how
they spend their days
and how their days spend them.
Television Pastor Jesse once proclaimed
he needed his humble flock to buy him
a fifty-four million-dollar plane:
If Jesus was alive today,
he wouldn’t be riding no donkey –
think about that! —
he’d be flyin’ all over the world
and God means me to do just that!
I think if Jesus, another brown man,
were living now, he wouldn’t be
riding a plane. He’d be waiting
wearily at a bus stop or standing,
overlooked, at an interstate on-ramp,
thumb out and passed by.
He’d be gaunt and shabby,
bent by the weight of how
he spends his days
and how his days spend him.
If Jesus walked those
fortunate paths, he might
nod to a smart woman and
bestow upon her dog a smile
but he would witness those
toiling men. He would
walk up to them, bow his
head and ask for the blessing
of washing their feet.
Published in Matter II, Volume 1: Award-winning Poetry. Oprelle Publications, August 2022