There is no good without its attendant evil

"If the number of the poor is reduced

we'll lose our jobs." Sister Nirmala,

Mother Teresa’s successor.

It's a sort of deal:

On one side God controls

the bank, owns apple blossom Heaven

and Hell’s in-the-red embers;

while on the other, there’s

an international, blue and

white wimpled corporation.

In the account between is the currency of the poor:

In yellow flowered gowns —

unnamed but numbered — they’ll wear any

God’s amulet who'll help.

Deposits toward salvation may be made:

Circle death with beads of prayer:

sleep on concrete:

hold a patient’s foot as

another cuts away the rotted skin

repeating sternly, "Be

still. Be still," to the deposit

who’s flinching from the pain.

An increase in currency is always desirable:

Orphans and gaunt children of malnourished parents,

the cash flow of life,

are the commodity of salvation.

karen swenson