A couple of new poems...

Witnessing Jehovah

spreading theology
like a virulent disease
house to house
body to body infecting
minds with contagion from the glossy pages
of a Watchtower
more pornographic than Playboy

pretending the sound of slamming doors
is a cry for salvation
trudging unbarred for the holy mission
like a middle aged suburban
terrorist

leaving leaflets that blow
in the wind and dance like paper birds
whispering outrageous stories
of how the lady down the block worships a pagan god
and Satanists that dance in the cornfields

when chicken sacrificing voodun lurk
in the shadows of every street corner
faith is spread thin and threadbare
evaporating with sweatdrops lost
to burning noonday sun
'For fortitude,' the spiritual warrior assures herself
as she leans up against the certain crack house
containing the hard-faced sinner who slammed the portal shut
with a thickly accented curse

sagging body supported by the aging bricks
she lights up a Marlboro cigarette with a lighter depicting
Christ in agony of crucifixion
inhales the heavy gray smoke to fill tar-black lungs
cautiously indulging herself in the wicked thought
that every last soul is damned.

Single Mother at Shop-Rite

an angelic faced domestic goddess
wheeling her vehicle
of abundance
through the cornflakes and carnation milk

cherubic children cling to her
faces fresh-washed and smiling; gesticulating
with chubby sausage fingers at
sugar-coated snacks

fifteen aisles and thirty minutes
transform and transfix
demonic woman shrieks and slaps
the tiny clawed hands
of imps that grasp and swipe
at everything they pass
ignores the high-pitched wailing
prayers for her favor
lacking the strength
to acquiesce