Revelation in Davidson, NC

By Emily Rose Proctor

“That’s not who Jesus is,” she said. “Jesus is not a vagrant.”

~ A Davidson resident who mistook the “Homeless Jesus” sculpture for a live person and called the police, as reported by the Washington Times, Feb. 27, 2014, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/27/homeless-jesus-sculpture-sparks-ire-son-god-not-va/ 

It was late, when she turned onto Caldwell, wondering

if the kids were in bed yet, if her husband had remembered

to take out the recycling. She was ticking through e-mails

still unanswered when she spotted the dark form, lying

knees to chest on a bench in front of St. Albans.

Just what we need, another vagrant—

thank God for the police, she thought,

and reached for her phone.

This is where I want to freeze the frame.  

I want to pull her over, ask her to please step out of the car.

I want to tell her she has the right to remain silent

and sit for a minute on the bench—there is just enough room.  

And when her grip on her purse loosens, and her breathing slows, 

I want to take her hand and place it gently on the bronze folds 

of his blanket. I want to guide it to the rigid feet, cold and exposed.  

I want to take her thumb and place it in the hole.