irradiated

i've been thinking about the 95 theses
and how scared martin luther must have been
with his little wooden mallet
and the weight of an empire strapped to his vestments

i've been thinking about plessy v ferguson
and being separately equal and equally separate
and how langston hughes taught me that
a black man can clean the pews of a white church
so long as he don't pray

i've been thinking about robert oppenheimer
and how he cried himself to sleep that night
when the sky glowed purple and soldiers in
their bunkers two miles from the blast sight
reported being able to see their own bones

i've been thinking about this whole god thing
that everyone keeps raving about
and how maybe we've all missed the point
he isn't omnipotent or benevolent
compassionate or clairvoyant
he's just there, all the time
with a hammer and a broom and thick human bones
always flexing and shifting just under the skin


from the January 2005 issue of High Altitude Poetry.

read more of my poems from HAP here.