i saw jesus on the bus today
he was wearing sneakers
he had long flowing hair
and sat with his long hands neatly folded
on top of the messenger bag in his lap
he wore glasses, too
and kept nodding off
tired from his long day of repenting for our sins
okay, so maybe he wasn’t really jesus
but he sure looked like it
in an iconographic sense
he looked like white america markets him
like renaissance painters depicted him
(laying down after being pulled off the cross
body limp, except for the erect penis, of course
covered with a sheet for dignity
my old italian professor would point out that jesus is always well endowed
but everything is phallic with her)
so jesus rode the bus
but he wasn’t really jesus
and he was probably weirded out by me
as i stared at him unabashedly
i’d rather believe the intangible anyway
~March 4, 2002
© Erin O'Brien
