a neighbor discovered on Wikipedia's list of people who claimed to be Jesus in poetry

poor Arnold Potter
we don’t share alma mater
in some ways we share even more

even though birth of mine
nineteen-seventy-nine
and his was in eighteen-oh-four

I in hospital halls
of the Littlest Falls
he in Salsbury just a bit north

in the fullness of time
declared himself divine
decided himself Christ and more

and so as to declare it
Arnold jumped off a cliff
expecting a Jesus to soar

I would guess quite surprised
when his form didn’t rise
rather died when his bones hit the floor

half-crazed though I may be
don’t expect that from me
when I leave I will just use the door

Last updated January 20, 2017