Three Days
Outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel,three men sit cross-legged beneath the shade
of an elm, branches spread out in repentance,still going strong on the Natty Ice tallboys
without sleep, and shepherdless congregantslinger next to the south entrance, waiting
patiently to take the Eucharist, to feel holyblood stream down their parched throats,
illuminated by an autumn sun whose sermonis not rebirth but a tenera mortem, and
within a breath, a green-brown leaf fluttersdown to the indifferent pavement, and
someone took down the statue of Christfrom His cross at the intersection, the reified
ghost beneath INRI etched in wood, andthey returned Him three days later, freshly
painted in lively new colors, speaking withHis eyes to all who pass I told you so. [End Page 104]
Andrew Alexander Mobbs is an Arkansas native currently based in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2013, he released his debut poetry collection, Strangers and Pilgrims. His work has also appeared in Deep South Magazine, The Round, Bayou Magazine, Poetry Quarterly, and elsewhere. He was a 2014 Pushcart Prize nominee, and he co-edits the online literary magazine Nude Bruce Review.
