Jesus never ate chocolate
December 20, 2018
Jesus never ate chocolate.
Or tomatoes. Or potatoes.
He never read the tabloids
standing in a checkout line
or listened to tinny muzak
at a dentist's office.
Jesus never watched YouTube
or used glitter glue.
He didn't dance the foxtrot
or even the hora.
He never rode a school bus
or sharpened a No. 2 pencil.
If he were here, he might marvel
at tweets from Lin-Manuel,
at the array of snack foods
in even the most basic 7-11.
But I think he'd be too busy
tenderly cradling the body
of the latest migrant child
to die in government custody,
overturning tables
in the halls of Congress,
searing the earth
with his tears.
With thanks to the friends who supplied these first two lines, not knowing they were sparking a new poem.