The boards do not touch at the peak of the spacious sugarhouse
sunlight pours though gaps in the wall 
Steam rises from the evaporator 
past a single wire 
that holds two bare light bulbs

Two men

The older  
his tan fedora cocked to the side 
forearms clothed in wool 
his hands in leather gloves
perches on the edge of a sofa covered with a stained canvas tarp

The younger 
stands behind the evaporator
his foot resting on an overturned sap bucket
his back to a stacks of dozens more

A quilted red coat and red wool cap with flaps ward off the chill 

The siding is gone above the
narrow roof that
barely protects the doorway

A doorway flanked by clotheslines
holding pink boxers, bandanas and a washcloth

Beside the steps, a defunct water heater,
a peeling stack of windows,
two chairs and a broken red wagon

A black-haired, barefooted women
leans into a yellow-shirted smiling blond man

We are all one in sin
We are all one in redemption

The question of your unbelief
or belief
Is not yours to ask

Stop.
Breathe.
Have faith.

True faith puts you in the middle
of true evil

Often the evil is you and me

Do this:
Step out of the boat

For the Great Spirit is your anchor

Bad historians, lazy theologians and clever politicians
Back up prejudice
With just enough to support their view

It’s a dangerous game
trying to think inside someone else’s head

We can never go back to Eden
That’s why preachers should keep their old sermons
to weep over

Edward Abbey Proclaims:
Keep America Beautiful!
Grow a Beard
Take a Bath
Burn a billboard!

The fringe element is now listening

I’m driving back from Burlington
in the Plymouth taking it all in
while writing my manifesto