I Saw the Lord
I saw the Lord down and out and I
turned my back. He was wet and cold.
He begged for bread but I refused to feel
the stirring in my heart to fill the gnawing
need within his stomach. I would not
buy him food but instead mumbled
my lame excuse.
Turned my eyes to stare
into the black hole of my hot
cup of ‘jo — then he was gone and I
was left alone within myself. I found
it easy to say no to the ones
that no one seems to know: the faceless, home-
less ciphers of the street, the throw aways
who no one dare to meet, whose eyes are deep
with pain and possibilities; who cannot
look you in the eye or perhaps
cannot be seen because we refuse
to break the hardened heart, calcified
by an empty soul self-contained.
To support the poet’s benign coffee addiction: Coffee.
Darryl Willis 2019
