heaven is not a cheque in the mail

Heaven is Not a Cheque in the Mail

Jesus said plainly the kingdom of heaven
was right here, on earth, and his own
believers don’t believe him.

Jesus people think heaven happens after
the worst possible affair – death itself,
that almighty ending, the long goodbye.

maybe if they listened to their prophet
they could see heaven like i do, in your
eyes, and your brother’s laugh, the clouds
wearing the countenance of wild cats
performing jazz,

my sister’s footprints just ahead of my
two feet in the orange mud along that
rockstream in Zion,

our father is a load of new sand for
childrens castles, at the playground
down the street from the reddest
maple leaf in
Cleveland.

heaven is all around us
has been this whole time, it exists
in front of closed eyes. it is bound to
the earth the stars that ocean and sky
what a shame to be waiting, like for
the mail your whole life, what with the
ever-increasing price of postage, and
a long-dead mailman.