the perfect people to love
if you claim you love Jesus
but dislike people who breathe
They never make demands of you
unlike the poor
they don’t resent your condescension
unlike widows
they don’t ask you to question patriarchy
unlike orphans
they don’t need money, education, or childcare
unlike aliens
they don’t bring all that racial, cultural
and religious baggage that you dislike
they allow you to feel good about yourself
without any work
and when they are born
you can forget about them.
It’s almost as if by being born
they have died
to you.
(From Dave Barnhart on Facebook, June 2018)
Verbatim Poetry 