Alan Altany

Lord jesus poems, No. 2

If Jesus had been born

& raised all His life

in an American city

instead of antiquity,

preaching on sidewalks

to homeless addicts,

very faithful atheists,

busy stock brokers

the devoutly religious,

cohorts of young rebels,

the distracted & bored,

high tech entrepreneurs,

would new disciples follow Him

through the business districts,

ghettos & suburban sprawl?

Or would this historic Jesus

be ridiculed as a hateful bigot,

suppressed with raged rejection,

censored & cancelled for subversion?

Arrested, or put in a psych ward?

Stripped of dignity & beaten by gangs?

Dutifully crucified in a mall parking lot

crowded with the curious & callous?

Where would they bury His savaged body?

Would there be some sort of uprising?

Who would recognize Jesus hitch-hiking

with healed wounds on His wrists & feet

during the Monday morning commute?

Alan Altany has a Ph. D. in religious studies (University of Pittsburgh) and is a semi-retired professor of Comparative Religions at a small college in Florida.  He was the founding editor of a small magazine of poetry (The Beggar’s Bowl) and has self-published two books of poetry:  A Beautiful Absurdity (2022) & The Greatest Longing (2023).  Website:  https://www.alanaltany.com/.