What Would the Pope Do?

I asked the man

with the silver hair

and gold earring,

he gave me a crooked smile

“ban abortion

for all three headed dogs”

he said

and walked away…

Long ago

I asked an old lady

if she could climb out

of her tears what did she see

“I see sculptured rocks silently

watching me;

I hear the silence of busy feet”

Are they happy

I wanted to know

but she had left me

and in her place stood

An elderly man holding a

black helmet

“there is no escape,” he said

he smiled and looked away

I stood still and listened

and looked.

Beneath me

were the ants

busy busy busy

I could see a happy couple

they walked together

comfortable

in each other’s words

and I wondered

how the Buddha

would communicate with

these tiny beings.

For that matter

What would the Pope do?

Bless them

as creatures of the Almighty

and send them on their way

to procreate?

I wonder.

Too much sun has left me

standing beneath a sky plump

with clouds

Below me is the ant hill

with a big load on

its head

of what I wonder

One ant

two ants

three ants

hundreds of ants

So much to

do in the city

of industry.

Here in the desert there

is no sweet song

there is only

sour breath

© 2009 Camerone Thorson