by sharon bridgforth

i found the sandals of jesus
in the sand/they lay
twisted and large        the sandals of
jesus enrique torres de silva.

this was a miraculous find
something that had touched the feet of jesus/my lord he was fine!
all the girls said so/except cleo mae thompson
who called him droopy
but that was cause cleo had girls looking to find her sandals too. besides cleo and jesus was best friends
i guess she just didn't see him the same way everybody else did

cleo and jesus both had giant jet black-afros framing their thick-black faces/like
the sun darkly magnificent/sheened
picked and patted their curls always returned perfectly back in place/in the wind
the rain/in the glimpse of love.

cleo and jesus smelt like coconuts and sunshine summers they worked on cars from 6 till noon in cleo's garage then they'd head for the beach with sleeveless v-necks puka shells and cut offs/they'd sit
by the drummers and watch the ocean wind/and sun-set.

i never talked to anyone that actually kissed either of them, but i heard they were the best.
that's why no one understood it when jesus disappeared he was in
his prime!
nobody could believe that he just walked off        but i knew,
that look they called sexy
was really saddness. the way his lashes fell/half hiding his midnight eyes
i knew/jesus saw things other folk just didn't
except cleo-who was jesus, confidant.
i knew
jesus was somewhere trying to walk away from saddness. i know
that jesus found a better place to be.

cleo is still here.
she shaved her fro/black bare bald keeps her head greased with coconut oil.
cleo tattooed jesus enrique torres de silva round her neck, in place of the puka shells        which sit in a corner of her garage
round saint candles.
cleo don't go to the beach no more
but she does teach the young ones the fine art of righteous car care/and grooming.
naturally i gave cleo the sandals of jesus, which she placed with the saints.

whenever i want to remember jesus
i go to the beach to the place of the drummers and sit with the ocean and the sky and watch the big black sun/rest in the wind.

copyright ©1998 by Sharon Bridgforth