two gods

the holy meet the city.

I saw two gods
Counting change on a subway platform
One was humming
And snapping to a holy tune
And examining the holes in her shoes
They were hungry, black-and-
-blue-city weary,
Headed soon
Toward the golden ocean
To look out over the pier and sigh
Inside their tired eternal bodies.

They boarded my train
And sailed the exhausted tunnels
Beneath miles of the city
They had transcended for centuries
While staring into passing human eyes
And reading street signs
Became slowly less spiritual.

They gazed at each other
Amid the dull murmur of sunken souls
And as they emerged
Among worshipped skyscrapers
And the fought-for ideal life,
They understood with supernatural longing
The lasting and the dying.

They floated through the city,
Through messy apartments
And failed business ventures
And trendy local stores
And loss of mothers
And searches for runaway animals
And love

And as they lit cigarettes
And held hands
Under the stretching skyline sunset,
They felt more than ever before
The weight of forever.