Back in The World
he brushes his dress shoes
Saturday night after Saturday night
for Sunday services
as a matter of habit
before he slips into bed,
brushes the toes and heels
hard and fast
until he no longer sees
the scum of rice paddies
where nothing ever shined,
and looks again for the face
of the boy he was
in his high school yearbook
Only saints, sociopaths and fools have
the luxury of drifting into sleep
without seeing themselves again
as they look deep into the dark