Birthday/Wedding Poem

Birthday/Wedding Poem
For Katie, b. October 28, 1991

“There is no Messiah”
Katie said.
“The world is screwed.”
Come unglued, that is,
Misconstrued,
A deconstructed rood.

But her hair is glamorous,
And her face pale but radiant
In the loud room,
Crowded with decked-out bridesmaids
And feathers.

Hypothetical Mess-iah,
This world is a Mess, and
IF you were to notice, and
IF you had a chance to do that stuff they talk about, you know,
The manger birth, the wedding feasts, the fishing trips, and
IF you had a chance to suffer pain, like we do,
Then maybe you would like it, (not the pain, you understand)
But like the whole idea of US,
Of Katie, of birthdays, weddings, and the rest,
And want to join us in the Mess,
And sit among the foo-foo and the feathers,
Sample wedding-cake,
And Mongolian barbecue,
And take part in other things we do.

Maybe you would.
And we are stuck here, so you should.


Jonathan
October 28, 2007