from thatBeckygirlthe gentle jesus walked into
town today
wearing a worn cashmere sweater:
an olive green pullover,
and a pair of faded jeans that fit him well
before he could get into the door of the Ozark Restaurant
and Pancake House
he was accosted
by a loud speaker
from a town-crier
who was laughing
“you better watch out
you better not shout
you better not cry
I'm tellin you why . . .
cause we’re watching you . . .
they’re watching you
from space
from the space between your teeth
from the fillings in your teeth
from the . . .”
jesus stepped inside, sat down
and
ordered bacon
and a spinach omelet
the waitress
looking wide eyed
with an open
mouth
said
“good GOD! you can’t eat
spinach . . . e-co-lye, she whispered from behind her hand
and the bacon
will kill you too
just a little
slower she winked
jesus winked back
and
ordered a cup of
green tea
the waitress
ran off to pour him coffee
the regular boys were sitting at their table
talking their regular war
and big trucks and fast women
and “I won’t play with you if you don’t play fair”
and
“I got more money
than you do’
the “regular” big boy board games
but then some one got upset
with someone
and decided
to take his ball
and go home
bumping his chair back
against Jesus' chair
he said,
“excuse me,”
“you’re forgiven,”
jesus said
which made the man look a little funny at jesus
a group of middle aged
women
walked in and
sat down in the booth next
to jesus
and started in . . .
“I hope that bird flu stays with them birds
and don’t get to us . . .
and I hope there ain’t no ticks on them
birds . . .cause I don’t what no Lyme disease
and I hope their ain’t no mosquitoes
on them ticks . . .
my body can’t take no more diseases
I already got . . . let’s see
heart and lung and breast
and kidney
and “what’s that other one called
Betty?”
“dementia”
“what?”
“ I said DEMENTIA, and you’ve got hearing loss too.”
“Oh yeah, and trouble with my eyes.”
jesus sprinkled pepper on his toast and sneezed
the whole table said
“God bless you!”
jesus rose to his feet, raised his hands
then thought better
of making the sign of the cross
and just said
“God bless you too!”
when he finished his eggs
he stepped back out side
where the town crier
was now crying
jesus said
“can I help you sir?”
and the town crier said
“I just heard the trumpet buddy
and everyone from the
town has vanished into thin air!
it’s the rapture
and I’m left behind!
jesus being an empathetic soul
gently touched the crying man on the shoulder
and immediately
the town crier turned into a silent pillar of salt
the gentle jesus
leaned down
took a pinch of the man
and threw it over his left shoulder
“just for good measure” he said
“just for good measure.”
wearing a worn cashmere sweater:
an olive green pullover,
and a pair of faded jeans that fit him well
before he could get into the door of the Ozark Restaurant
and Pancake House
he was accosted
by a loud speaker
from a town-crier
who was laughing
“you better watch out
you better not shout
you better not cry
I'm tellin you why . . .
cause we’re watching you . . .
they’re watching you
from space
from the space between your teeth
from the fillings in your teeth
from the . . .”
jesus stepped inside, sat down
and
ordered bacon
and a spinach omelet
the waitress
looking wide eyed
with an open
mouth
said
“good GOD! you can’t eat
spinach . . . e-co-lye, she whispered from behind her hand
and the bacon
will kill you too
just a little
slower she winked
jesus winked back
and
ordered a cup of
green tea
the waitress
ran off to pour him coffee
the regular boys were sitting at their table
talking their regular war
and big trucks and fast women
and “I won’t play with you if you don’t play fair”
and
“I got more money
than you do’
the “regular” big boy board games
but then some one got upset
with someone
and decided
to take his ball
and go home
bumping his chair back
against Jesus' chair
he said,
“excuse me,”
“you’re forgiven,”
jesus said
which made the man look a little funny at jesus
a group of middle aged
women
walked in and
sat down in the booth next
to jesus
and started in . . .
“I hope that bird flu stays with them birds
and don’t get to us . . .
and I hope there ain’t no ticks on them
birds . . .cause I don’t what no Lyme disease
and I hope their ain’t no mosquitoes
on them ticks . . .
my body can’t take no more diseases
I already got . . . let’s see
heart and lung and breast
and kidney
and “what’s that other one called
Betty?”
“dementia”
“what?”
“ I said DEMENTIA, and you’ve got hearing loss too.”
“Oh yeah, and trouble with my eyes.”
jesus sprinkled pepper on his toast and sneezed
the whole table said
“God bless you!”
jesus rose to his feet, raised his hands
then thought better
of making the sign of the cross
and just said
“God bless you too!”
when he finished his eggs
he stepped back out side
where the town crier
was now crying
jesus said
“can I help you sir?”
and the town crier said
“I just heard the trumpet buddy
and everyone from the
town has vanished into thin air!
it’s the rapture
and I’m left behind!
jesus being an empathetic soul
gently touched the crying man on the shoulder
and immediately
the town crier turned into a silent pillar of salt
the gentle jesus
leaned down
took a pinch of the man
and threw it over his left shoulder
“just for good measure” he said
“just for good measure.”
and her new CD
and her new CD review:
P.T Barnum once said,
"I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name right." The
circus has always had a mystique, unique to the greatest show on earth.
Poet Becky Buchanan explores circus life through the eyes of Mary, the
fictional first lady of the big top, who finds herself rather reluctantly,
"living among them" in the late 1800's, early 1900's.