Messages from God

Every time a man picks up the gun, he's a cowboy,

a sailor. Holding the world in his palm like the first one who failed

her. Every time he opens his mouth, it's a short, final prayer.

Clipping the sound of the round so the kids never hear. A hand,

a trigger, a physical fight, a flash in the wire. A toll,

a tithe, the passage of time, the coal and the fire.

A boy, a knight, a typical type, a body in water.

A scroll, a knot, a message from God, a son for