PROPHETS

The evangelist – spiritual aide-de-camp

to Old Glory’s Commanders-in-Chief,

and nostrum-monger of eternal life –

in white shirt, black shoes, socks, trousers, the Good Book

open in his hands, sits astride a donkey

near the Garden of Gethsemane

on Mount Olive. Below him on Temple Mount,

in noonday brightness, is the Dome of the Rock

and the Al-Aksa Mosque and, out of sight,

the Western Wall. He looks at the camera

as one who might say, ‘Behold! When the Jews

hold Jerusalem heaven will open.

Jesus will return on a white horse!’

The donkey’s Arab minder – in slightly

shabby casual wear – steadies the beast

by placing his right arm on its hindquarters.

The goad, which he holds in his left hand,

rests on the creature’s belly. His wrist watch

is exposed. We can almost tell the time.

He smiles or leers at the camera

as if to say, ‘Behold!’