Forget it Until it Goes Bang

God told me, go buy a gun--
that was the easy part
(our right to bear arms)
& it sure was fun
out in the wasteland
shooting dirt off a wall

Most nights
Glockie slept with me
under my pillow
felt safer than a drawer
ragged steel easier to conceal
than a clutch of boyhood hurt

All summer God talked
until the day by the school yard
not listening to God
became the hardest thing of all

That day he was difficult to ignore
especially when His voice
spoke only to me
God could always shout
loudest of all

Louder than Pa
getting angry with Mom
louder than the Doc
when I forgot to take my pills
louder than the State Street subway roar
louder than a bullet
& louder than the children
out playing ball

The dream kids had neat hair
they cheered for the Bears
like me
but they were all too busy
to truck with God
so they could never
grow up
like me

God is silent now
he stayed that way
the day them babies
began to bleed