In '63 the Secret Service
couldn't protect the President and God
let the Pope die. God could do magic
when you were 12, all you had to do was ask
and it was a given, or so said Pastor
and Mrs. Stanson every Sunday AM. They stood in
as His right hand, they knew how to swap
repentence for favors, but at 12
there's little to barter with.

The spring after, a boy dropped mid-baseline
to the dust. We watched Mr. Z. fly
out the window just like SuperMan.
Joey later said he found him sobbing
in the men's room. I overheard the principal say,
He could taste the vomit for weeks.

April 2005