A poem sent from a friend at St. John’s Cathedral – stunning!


I want a god

as my accomplice

who spends nights

in houses

of ill repute

and gets up late

on Saturdays

 

a god

who whistles

through the streets

a god

who waits in line

at the entrance

of movie houses

and likes to drink

café au lait

 

a god

who spits

blood from

tuberculosis and

doesn’t even have

enough for bus fare

 

a god

knocked

unconscious

by the billy club

of a policeman

at a demonstration

 

a god

who hurts

to the last

bone and

bites the air

in pain

 

a jobless god

a striking god

a hungry god

a fugitive god

an exiled god

an enraged god

 

a god

who longs

from jail

for a change

in the order

of things

 

I want a

more godlike

god

 

Francisco X. Alarcón From the Other Side of Night/Del otro lado de la noche (2002) Translated by Francisco Aragón

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