Deadbeat Messiah

By Kevin Ridgeway

when I was five years old
my mother told me that
Jesus Christ himself
was returning to earth
to take us home
to heaven

I did not want any
part of that—
he had a weird beard
like the men in the
photographs that
lined our walls
that had left my
mother alone
with her
two sons

he wore a dress
and if he came back
he would probably
break his promises
get drunk on his
own home-made wine
steal money from
my piggy bank
destroy my toys
clear my mother’s
bank account
and disappear
like all the other
strange men
before him

Orginally appeared in Scissors & Spackle.