thurber
05-10-07, 03:46 PM
The guy is 6′ 7″ and covered in tattoos
he walks back and forth
all day, jobless
convenience store to home
home to convenience store
with a golden new 40 of
Schlitz Malt Liquor in his hand
And Jesus commands me to
love my neighbor
Raw, stinking garbage stacks up
in his yard
causing large, unashamed rats
to show up with suitcases
and great joy
every few months
the City comes out
fines him
makes him clean up
And Jesus commands me to
love my neighbor
His dogs possess miracle larnyxes
barking for stretches of
five to seven hours at a time
the hounds are joined by him and his girlfriend
at 1:37 am
for yelling matches that provide me with
strange dreams
and bad poems
And yet, Jesus doesn’t cut me any slack
“…love thy neighbor…”
I’m usually angry and
frustrated by these impossible words
until I walk by a
mirror
And take
a good, long look
at the self-righteousness
I carry around with me
and have carefully preserved
as a mortician does
his latest
customer
Jesus doesn’t command me
to love my neighbor
because my neighbor
is somehow lovable
He tells me to do it because
though I like to play at enlightenment
my neighbor and I
are barreling down this old fire road
at one hundred and one miles per hour
in the
same
****ty
Buick
together
Forgive me neighbor
I have not loved you
-Robert Bruce | 15 May 2006
he walks back and forth
all day, jobless
convenience store to home
home to convenience store
with a golden new 40 of
Schlitz Malt Liquor in his hand
And Jesus commands me to
love my neighbor
Raw, stinking garbage stacks up
in his yard
causing large, unashamed rats
to show up with suitcases
and great joy
every few months
the City comes out
fines him
makes him clean up
And Jesus commands me to
love my neighbor
His dogs possess miracle larnyxes
barking for stretches of
five to seven hours at a time
the hounds are joined by him and his girlfriend
at 1:37 am
for yelling matches that provide me with
strange dreams
and bad poems
And yet, Jesus doesn’t cut me any slack
“…love thy neighbor…”
I’m usually angry and
frustrated by these impossible words
until I walk by a
mirror
And take
a good, long look
at the self-righteousness
I carry around with me
and have carefully preserved
as a mortician does
his latest
customer
Jesus doesn’t command me
to love my neighbor
because my neighbor
is somehow lovable
He tells me to do it because
though I like to play at enlightenment
my neighbor and I
are barreling down this old fire road
at one hundred and one miles per hour
in the
same
****ty
Buick
together
Forgive me neighbor
I have not loved you
-Robert Bruce | 15 May 2006