by Kevin Brown                                                       

---

Perhaps the homeless man

near your house is the

harbinger you have not

yet heard. And perhaps

the prostitute and the pimp

are the prophets whom

you pass and pretend not

to notice. And perhaps

the sounds the schizophrenic

hears comes from the

heaven you hope to

obtain. But you do

not know, nor do I, nor do they,

for we have mangled the mystery

of God, we have inoculated

ourselves from the infectious wonder

in our world, and we have murdered

every messiah sent to save us.