My Christian friend tells me
not to worry because
there are already so many
Christians praying for me

thanks
I’ll take all the help I can get

and I look at the
Little Blonde Talking Monkey
who calls me Pop-o
and answer her as honestly
as I know

"well, the men who flew the planes
into the World Trade Center
thought they were doing
the right thing by God
but they were very misguided"

but were they bad?

"I don’t know – they did a horrible thing
but I don’t know"

as she hunkers down
all 54 pounds and haystack hair
in front of her bowl of Magic Stars
I try not to think of
all the primrose paths out there
lined with fool’s gold
beckoning to her
and I pray she thinks twice
before doing anything and everything

and I pray for the terrorists
because they know not
what they’ve done
and I’m sure someone somewhere
misses them
and what if they’re wrong about heaven

and I pray for the ones left behind
that can they forgive themselves
for not holding that one kiss a little longer
with their dearly departed
I pray that they can continue
this glorious and messy pageant of life

and I pray for the ticketing agent
I saw on CNN who didn’t trust
his intuition and let Mohammed Atta
onto the plane - -
I pray that you are not tortured by
guilt over something you didn’t do

and I pray for George W.
that he finds a Bible
with a translation of
Exodus 20:13
that he can finally understand

and I pray for Osama Bin Laden
and I pray for Hezbollah
and I pray for the Israeli Defense Forces
and I pray for the American troops
and I pray for everyone who counts on
Heaven

I pray for them all

father forgive them
for they know not what they do
and they keep on doing it

"were they bad, honey?
I guess we’re all bad
in some ways,
so say a prayer for them."

so you can call me Un-American
or unpatriotic or a pacifist
or a traitor or a Jew bastard

that’s okay

I pray for you too



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