Robert Warrington
Highway of Diamonds
When his head became heavy
he started to walk
down a highway of diamonds
through a country of immigrants
resentful of immigrants
and saw in each star
a faulty utopia
stolen from Indians
with a statue that said
Give me your tired
Your huddled masses
as long as they're not
descendants of slaves
Latinos
Chinese
Too Jewish
White Trash
or from over the state line
Without breaking his stride
he swapped his work boots
for Cuban heels
and his lumberjack plaid
for a polka dot shirt
Hungry
like a man in drag
he followed the sound
of the cracked bells
past friends and other strangers
past waterfalls of pity
past a fire on Main Street
and kept on keeping on
till the lonesome sparrow
sang of bone-filled graves
till the pawnbroker roared
of blood-stained ground
till electricity
gave up its ghost
and the hundred Inevitables
were walking beside him
in one pair of sandals
and everything changed
and nothing changed
Even with Jesus
he had to keep walking
head still heavy
with jewels and binoculars
brow furrowed
by the gospel plough
©2007 by
Robert Warrington
