A River Sings | 09 14 22 | N.T. Chambers

Nobody Noticed

Jesus came back on TikTok since
two hundred forty characters  
couldn’t raise the dead.  
He was hoping three minutes
would be enough to regroup 
all the MIA Christians
who’d stopped believing
in anything—especially themselves.

If only their ears had been eyes
the first time—they could’ve seen
what I really meant.
Even though they’re
glued- together stardust,
humans just weren’t
built that way.

They made him the first bloody
telegraph pole—
sending a message
that endured two millennia—
until the digital age.

Then hucksters with toothy smiles
and slicked back hair played
fast and loose with all
his humble truths
to keep the cash cow mooing—
they preached heaven
could be here on earth—
as long as the price was right.

His video was a simple one
no gangsta rap or dancers
writhing to primal beats
just a sad-eyed bearded soul
preaching worldwide brotherly love—
he didn’t stand a chance.

This time there were no angry mobs—
neither crowds nor riots appeared—
not even a single thumbs-up. 

· · ·

Ambivalence

The future is
never present
while looking 
at the past 
only ghosts
of lost chances
that restlessly
haunt the
temporary now 
as they dispatch
the immediate
to misty realms  
of unnoticed
and forsaken
opportunities
where the light
of day is
forever cloaked
by shadows
of promises
waiting to 
be born

—Submitted on 09/04/2022

N.T. Chambers‘s poems have appeared in Grassroots Literary Magazine, In Parentheses, You Might Need to Hear This, Nine Cloud Journal, The Elevation Review, Wingless Dreamer, Months to Years, New Note Poetry, Bright Flash Literary Review, and Quibble Magazine.

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Editor’s Note: The series title A River Sings is borrowed from “On the Pulse of Morning,” the poem read by Maya Angelou at the inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993. 

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