Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Midnight Friend

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread . . . 
                    -- Luke 11:5 (NRSV)

Some grizzled old monk kicks the mud off his shoes 
after another long day in the barrio:

Last night
I, too, knocked, and yelled,
and am still trying to decide 
what he slipped me through the door.

Prayer doors don't work like others.
They flicker like those angels you only see by looking away and back,
or was that a car going by?
Or Hogwarts Express Platform 9 3/4
appearing to the world a brick wall -
that sort of thing.

At least I didn't hurt myself,
and the yelling felt good.

I trust he either gave me what I asked for
or should have.
The should-have's are hard to redeem, though,
unrecognized by the local bank as acceptable tender.

If I were a field lily
I could die blessed,
accepting my relative glory and smallness for what they are,
and that thought alone would be all the loaves I need - 
all that some ever get.

© 2010 Andy Gay