Prayer for our Church at Guernica

Prayer for our Church at Guernica

On the slick edge of weather

we hit the wall

steering column crushes chest

pierces sternum

air bag deploys late 

abrading face

and snapping neck

children unbelted and unconscious

frozen askew

mucus like mildew forms at their nostrils

blood and lunch and feces pool in the seat

ghosts and souls hover,

not yet ready to leave

beneath the wreck they lick battery acid, 

brake fluid and antifreeze, or lie back on 

the hood like a coat of paint,

watching the autumn clouds roll in 

and the sun set

It looks like the planning commission and 

construction crew failed to properly deploy 

the blinking orange barrels and iridescent 

arrows marking the way

fines double in work zones

slow the hell down

Some say it's a failure of the anti-lock braking system.

As is so often the case these days - we blame it on it - 

the several levels of plausible deniability.

We blame it on IT - info tech - a typo in a line of code 

glued to a chip set - no one's fault.

Well, someone always takes the blame and the 

insurance company sends us the bill.

Whatever the case, we're on our own and 

bleeding out.

In the distance getting closer are the twin sirens 

of the attorneys and the conflict resolution team

followed by a busload of assholes and the 

medical examiner.

Dear God,

Bulldoze this stretch down to the granite,

scratch our names in shiny stone,

and make it rain the manna of fresh soil, seed 

and the perfect complement of

wind, sun and rain.

Amen

DLW

Labor Day 2010

4:04 a.m.