COLLIN KELLEY

 

 

 

THE VIRGIN MARY APPEARS IN A HIGHWAY UNDERPASS
 


Mary pops up in the strangest places,

usually as a window stain or sandwich,
but yesterday she dripped down a wall
on a Chicago underpass, brought the faithful
running with candles and offerings, blocked traffic.
I saw the pictures, couldn't see her face,
saw a giant gaping vagina instead, just failed
my Rorschach Test, going to hell for sure.

If this is Mary, she sure gets around,
recasting herself as a Holly Golightly,
popping up where you least expect her,
causing trouble for the locals.
But why would she choose to appear
in condensation, burnt toast or ditch water runoff?
Some will say its proof that she still dwells here,
runs like an undercurrent, manifests in the mundane.

I say, cut the parlor tricks, Mary.
If you want a little respect, come flaming
out of the sky on a thunder cloud,
ride it like a magic carpet over middle America,
speak in a voice like Diana Rigg or Emma Thompson,
command attention, instead of this slight of hand,
a stain to be cleaned with soap and water,

so easily erased.

 


Atlanta native Collin Kelley is the author "Better To Travel," the spoken word CD "HalfLife Crisis" and the forthcoming chapbook, "What Remains" (April 2006, MetroMania Press). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Chiron Review, Terminus, New Delta Review, The Pedestal, SubtleTea, Lily and many others. Visit his website at www.collinkelley.com
 

 

Copyright © 2005 by Collin Kelley

 Material may not be reprinted without prior written permission.

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