work

someday
the Son
will shine
upon me
in glory
and I hope
it-s not
the day
I decide
to draw
the shades
tight
and crawl
back into
my bed

let me count the eyes
seeing you for the first time

how could they know
that in a few years you would
be married
have three children
build a large house
develop brain cancer and
die on a Tuesday morning

I should have done better for you
but it seems the world has too many dogs
and too few men and I wag my tail

from sixteen to twenty-two
I was holier than most
a real self-appointed saint
I would go to church on Sundays
speak in spiritual tongues and
pray for forgiveness every night
but when I got to Christian university
the kids there were holier than I was
they knew how to pray longer & harder
they wanted to go to church more often
and they almost had me convinced that
they loved God more
but I came to understand that this was
a very good act played by very good actors
and I think it drove me to abandon my
self-righteousness or maybe I was done with
fooling myself since I wasn-t good enough
to fool anyone else