To Keep Onself Un-stubbed

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TO KEEP ONSELF UN-STUBBED


Pure and undefiled religion 

will run you fifty bones 

for a roll top desk you don’t want

but the widow wants gone 

because she found him there. 


Given that it demands your entire

afternoon and that it goes so far

as to require you to take the door 

off its hinges, logically 

you shouldn’t have to pay 

the widow to help her out, 

but then the widow isn’t 

logical right now and neither is

pure and undefiled religion.  


What you’ve acquired 

smells like mold and cat piss 

and won’t fit in the vehicle you 

brought to carry it. Remind me 

to wear closed-toed shoes next time

I try to tread the narrow way.


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