licking sores

Harvey S. Mozolak
 
 “I have you covered”
meaning mostly
something less threatening
than seen through a gun sight
and more like
“I am backing you up”
although these words too
can have an ominous overcast
at the gate
a poor man
they always unlatch things
besides the heart
and call for locks and security
because
they are covered with sores
“I have you covered”
because I am one of the sores
the purple squeezed
the mollusk gland drained
and left an broken empty shell
to cut the soles of Lazarus
shuffling in
under the table legs
bruised purple kicked
quite by accident during laughter
and polite conversation
beneath the linen beaten white
by the raw hands of harassed servants
some with burned palms
from the grease of sumptuousness
taken too quickly from the kitchen’s ovens
to the table
where like a dog
there is hope for a splash
drip drop
mercy’s morsel to fall
like a Jesus story
in its dead weight of warning
the taste of uncooked
raw glory

Luke 16. 19-31
Lectionary 26