Sex or salvation




Even this world

Not another

Even this face

Of a revered

Icon

In the body

Christ in the body

Of a withering

Man

Hands search for pennies

And frail arms bend

Haunting narrow

Cheeks

And hallowed eyes

He sags

And lies in the street

Covered in a blanket

A man with

An angelic soul

And no money

This crippled man

Squirms

And searches the trash

Looking for money

Or food

Looking for sex

Or salvation

Looking for truth

Within denial

His eyes

Have been victorious

Over death

Deep brown

Seen it all

Eyes

Passing

The lust of strangers

And the anger of

The well-to-do

He passes

Christ in another body

From this world

Day in and day out

Mindless

Mental derangement.



Dark endless nights

In homeless shelters

And parks and dirty beds

This man loved by only

The soul of his mother

Loves him still.