Secret Religion Poem by Stephen Roxborough

she wants me to be her private
jesus she wants me to grow
a scraggly beard
and speak in parables she wants
me to visit her temple in a robe
celebrate hanukkah feeding
multitudes on a loaf
and a fin she wants to teach me
how to walk on the wild side
and turn water into wine
to pray with her kiss her holy
feet and hold her tight by the light
of her menorah
she wants me to be her lover
not her savior because she doesn't believe
i'm the messiah but she trusts me
not to make a scene not to
upend tables and hiel hitler and rail
against rabbis someday
she wants me to be
her public jesus
without a crown of thorns
she wants me to come
to her temple ready for
our resurrection