That Time I Drove Around Four of the Minor Gods

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Photo by Ivan Timov

They emerge through mahogany
doors, out from under Greek letters,
like four of the minor gods. They are
all cardigans and collars and suit coats
like their fathers
(lawyers, doctors, accountants)
brazen laughter at past conquests
and those to come. Nothing holy
or sacred because the world
is theirs to pillage. All around them
mortals making minor gifts,
supplications. Nonetheless,
their
fire
will
fall.

We drive
through the city, me straight-faced
and listening. I am torn. I want them
to have fun, to drink one too many,
to make mistakes that will make
for good stories years from now
when they unexpectedly cross
paths. Remember that
night? But I also know that when gods
and mortals cross, the gods do not
suffer, even if they leave the mortals
in ruins. And I think of my daughters
ten years from now, or fifteen, perhaps,
somehow in the path of these laughing
gods as they take whatever
they want.

“We’ll get out here,” they shout, opening
and slamming doors in the middle
of stopped traffic, laughing and running
through the lines of waiting cars, talking
as if they know the entire population
of this city is listening. Maybe
it is. Has this world
always been man-
handled by such careless
deities? And where are the heroes
among us, the ones who will unseat
these reckless rulers and saturate
the world in
kindness and grace?

I pull away, into traffic, into
a sea of brake lights fragmenting
under the winter rain. Where
are those who will save us
from ourselves?

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One Reply to “That Time I Drove Around Four of the Minor Gods”

  1. What I’ve realized through wisdom from above is that prayer and God’s Word allows me often to save myself. BUT…there is always a freedom, a caveat if you will, a choice; can I hear Him over the loudness of earthly noise? Do I choose to keep my eyes on Him? Sovereign over it all He saves many a time from things we don’t even realize.

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