with jesus watching

do you think jesus saw us?

I would take anyone's ghost,
anyone's skeleton to my mouth;
bones churn through black and white
and everything is grayscale in
open books, people arguing back and forth and forth
and back, never explaining why it matters in the first place
and they call me a hedonist when I live
and a masochist when I love.

is he even watching?

I churn through crematoriums and wish 
the walkers well-- the ashes buzz
like they were still alight and fall into
a manuscripture, 
"what would you do if you were to die tonight?"
and they have white collars round their throats
like halos choking them in a quiet embrace
as they tell the cryers "it'll be alright, because the gates
are cleaned by slaves every morning"

has he any reason to anyways?

we are simply still waters in a silent movie, 
and the snake cannot see us, 
and the skeletons taste salty as they are thrown to the sea.

Author's Note

I need a different title

Reviews

[Jeremy Baker]

I think the title is catchy and intriguing - and the questioning draws the reader into the work without the aloofness usually associated with rhetoric. Great writing.

[Brandon Henson 1990]

Back and forth and forth and back needs to be layed out on separate lines