God as a vending machine
by AnnaLeah Lacoss
The first floor vending machine is gutted /
missing Dole apple juice / blue Gatorade / now midnight visitors
go thirsty / once I overstayed
my housing / camped in the science center / peanut butter crackers /
lemonade / poured quarters into the vending machine
like a prayer / Christians disagree on
most things / predestination / wine vs. grape juice / high-fructose
corn syrup / agree that God exists but sometimes
I wonder / heresy appeals / I know our prayers:
“make his life so unbearable that he turns to you Lord” / hadn’t guessed someone
prayed the same for / me / certain phenomena clarified:
forest fires / hurricanes / unexplained disappearances
of food sources / Sunday school said God isn’t
like a vending machine / but I think God is like the sun / trees / everything /
fluorescent glowing from within / full of sweetness / the northern lights
last night were invisible / but we knew /
we believed they were there / snapping pictures of the empty sky /
next morning asking each other did you see them /
did you see them