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Michael Keshigian

HOMELESS IN NYC


I crossed 42nd to get to Fifth

towards mid-town

and just paces in front of me

an old lady pushed a shopping cart

full of identity.


Bags of cans dangled

from each elbow,

clanged as she waddled

in clothes

worse than a country scarecrow


though her straw gray hair

hung longer,

tied in a tail with brown hosiery

to match her stoic, weathered face.

It pained my heart,


when suddenly she squatted

and froze

in a deep knee bend,

like picking something off the sidewalk.

I quickly approach


to help

unaware of the problem,

till a puddle formed

and its river flowed

around my shoes


down the curb.

In the privacy of her mind

she transformed

my sympathy

to confused helplessness.



THEOLOGY


The serpent did not seduce Eve

to the apple.

Facts are twisted.

Adam ate the apple,

Eve ate Adam,

the serpent ate them both,

regurgitated Cain and Able

and the dark intestine

of human history propagated.

The serpent took residence

under the portico

of Cain's abode,

preached his sermon

and smiled each time

he heard God's name

used in vain.

God distraught,

selected clergy to spread His word,

denigrated the serpent

to damp corners,

until those cloaked,

who spoke on His behalf,

unfrocked the innocence

of the unsuspecting.

The serpent still smiles.


[Index]

Thunder Sandwich #26 - Summer/Fall 2005