ASCENSION DAY PLANTING, NORTH PHILLY ........................................................................PATRICK HANSEL

RUNNER UP

ASCENSION DAY PLANTING, NORTH PHILLY

Poem by Patrick Hansel

"God does what she wants. She has very large tractors." – Robert Bly

It is the first time Jesús has planted, and his haircut is on backwards. His eyes are little birds, hinged at the wings. His hands spend their days combating eagerness. Give him a shovel. Give a boy with poking eyes an extra hand to carve his name in dirt. Some boy's house fell into its own pit here and made hole-homes for rat-friends, for pawned treasures and secrets that never got redeemed. Jesús can make time with a shovel. Make it march backward. Stand on its head. Do tricks. Blink back nobodies. Earth is a bag to hold heaven, and Jesús is a hole's best friend. Big sister Milly (one leg over the fence into babies, the other still in diapers), hands him a tomato with its web roots of tiny feathers. It is a small bird fallen out of heaven. It is a troubling miracle, that rests a moment in Jesús’ palm, cupped between the thumb and the dirty nails, until his knee bends, his hands swoop down, and his fingers release it to the freshly dug earth.