Words among us.

If words

are my religion

then Verless

is my preacher.

It ain't what 

you think either,

I mean

he is a helluva poet,

but the world

is flush with 

helluva poets.

Maybe,

more 

the way he 

looks when 

he mentions 

his woman or
spends time

with his kids
wrapped in 

blankets,

watching t.v..

It's his
Damascus road

thing- shedding 

skin

and more in 

that change,

transformed.

The way he 

remembers

the pain and 

shares it,

forgiving his 

trespassers,

even his 

own transgressions.

Those are 

the hardest

to forget.

It's the hope

I  feel, the chance

for redemption

for the sins

of my father,

the sins of my own.

It is for 

that bearded jesus

thing that he does,

love for 

the tax collectors,

the hookers, and 

the drunks-

and most

of the other 

cabbies.

Maybe he is the 

thief on the right 

and I am

all that is left

and sometimes

all I have left

is his faith.

So that 

kind of makes him 

my preacher,

and if words 

are my church,

then this 

is kind of

my prayer -

help me

learn to forgive,

like Verless.