did you know that Jewish boy
raised by Hebrew Christians
in Germany over a century ago
saw Jesus as a socialist
wrote that little book
cried for all the workers
to break their chains and unite
throw the fat cats
Mary called out in the Magnificat
under the table
so that the wretched of the Earth
sit at a table
as long as the world
sup and sup
but when a pandemic
crushes the world
we see the fat cats
still at the table
the workers cleave beef loins shovel dirt
spoon-feed patients punch cash registers
crawl in attics wheel gurneys
die under the table
as Marx turns over in his grave
wonders if we are going to get it
before that Communist Jesus
comes down takes
His own to the Place
where the cats can’t roam
Originally published in Sledgehammer Magazine