(this Is Church

(This is Church

                Heres a seat upfront for you sir
The gentlemen said
After I followed him down
The Roman Road.
I stride over a couple next to my chosen seat
And find an overzealous believer 
With his tootsie roll grinding into my shoulder blade
While trying to lift my arms in praise 
To a man that I got peer pressured into loving

I start to thumb through 
The morning announcements that the mid-life
Crisis women gave me.
She’s the one that stands in the back 
Behind the bleachers, raises her hand 
At every service to be another “Amen” at the end
Of the Pastor’s prayer,
Number on the daily bulletin,
Or body in the “I just accepted Christ” line.
She fell in love with Jesus to justify her
Righteous acts of celibacy
              It’s OK, I’m a Christian

It was in the speakers smile 
That I was reminded of the homeless man 
I saw downtown a couple nights ago,
Rummaging through the dumpsters of 
the IRS building in the rain
he found a jacket and a rotten half eaten apple 
his teeth glistened off the yellow street light
through the rain that poured down his face.
he raised his treasure by the arms 
with praise to a man he doesn’t even know.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2009

Poem

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