I watched a homeless man with

raging hair and ragtag beard,

hands on the railing

above the steep escalator

look upon the hot angry mob

pushing from a subway car

during rush hour,

shoving, pressing against

one another in the line

of the Great American Nightmare,

and chant down at them,

“Baaa! Baaa! Baaa!”

 

At first I laughed,

wanted to congratulate him,

then wondered what

the Isaiahs

of the Old Testament

might proclaim

to the embittered children

of the new covenant now

about their journey

to the promised land