Narrow Crossing Poem by Laurence Overmire

The cross rises out of the high ground
Above the freeway, like a mighty white

Sword stabbed provocatively into
The bosom of the heartland

Looking down with righteous indignation:
The thousands of Buddhists, Muslims

Atheists and Jews, Hindus and
Agnostics who

Bravely make their way

Albeit uncomfortably
Through the narrow passages of hypocrisy

Toward the beckoning horizon
…of an American dream.


(Previously published in Lynx: Poetry from Bath, England, Issue 14, Feb 2000)