Miniature

A man was putting a steeple on the church
In his model train yard, but he couldn’t get the glue
To hold it straight. There are other leaning buildings
In the world, he said. The tiny congregation
Was holding mass inside, and Jesus was shook off
The cross during the commotion. How embarrassing,
Some of the townspeople thought, that those nails
In his palms didn’t hold. And here we have a Jesus
On the loose, trying to swim in the plastic river,
Wondering why everything’s so lifeless and hollow.
Have you any thoughts on this, they asked the man,
Who to them lived in the sky.
I made everything the best I could, he said,
The nails were real, so was the blood in the chalice.