JUKE
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JOINT
The Holy Bible, Appendix B
Faithful disciples of the Bread of Life Church
arrive to deliver the good word.
Today, the men have brought their wives and children
lined strollers along the curb
in front of the women’s clinic
hung signs bearing images of bloody fetuses
around the necks of their five-year-olds
whose jackets look too thin for the cold.
​
The Holy Bible says
we are to love our neighbor perfectly
and Democrats are dividing us
confusing God’s plan
making women think that this is about health care.
​
Heads nod, hands clap
and my co-escort rubs her eyes.
I watch the women with their children
remember the book of Bible stories
my mother read me before bed
the illustration of Jonah in the whale’s belly
I can’t remember
how he survived being swallowed whole. . .
​
One of the mothers whispers in her child’s ear
points at the clinic door
and when the next patient approaches
the child runs up to her
wraps his little body around her legs
begs, “Please don’t kill me!”
To love God perfectly
is the sum of His commandments.
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"As We Gather" - Ellen Langford
As if
an apology puts hurt to rest,
water sprayed over a forest fire
still leaves scorched earth,
we paint the walls cottage white,
deny the blood that eventually
seeps through.
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Christine Taylor, a multiracial English teacher and librarian, resides in her hometown Plainfield, New Jersey. She is the haibun editor at OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters. Her work appears in Modern Haiku, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Room, and The Rumpus among others. She can be found at www.christinetayloronline.com. Follow her on Twitter @cetaylorplfd.