Poem for Thursday, July 2, 2009

Talking Over Tea About the Afterlife

I.

One man said, "He'll smite us."

Another man said, "He'll save us."

One man said, "He'll erase us."

Another man said, "He'll save us."

                           and they just kept

talking, drinking

tea in a cafe on the upper east side

coughing

as the pulverized leaves

swirled down their throats

One man said, "Pass the sugar."

Another man said, "Alright."

II.

He wore a trilby hat and

a navy-collared golf

shirt (a little man swung a 

club on his left breast), smiled

Said he, "The worms'll devour us."

Said another, "The spirit will revive us."

the other's face, much less grim

                   (even though it was striped

                    with thinly sliced shadows

              from the dusty window blinds) he

squirted more lemon juice in his 

tea

III.

One man said, "Say he comes."

Another man said, "He'll come."

One man said, "We all get golden capes."

Another man said, "Some get golden capes."

they looked outside

the window

here is what they saw/heard:

                                      traffic on 57th was excessively congested

                                      there was a clamor of horns and swearing

                                      a homeless man had a cardboard sign reading,

                                      "I may be an angel for all you know!"

IV.

One man said, "My first wife was an angel."

Another man said, "She sure was. Still is."

a waitress brought them the check;

the non-believer paid it, asking,

"Can good works get me there?"

the believer smiled, saying,

"Depends."

and then they split ways, agreeing 

next week's topic would be:

                                                baseball