Angel

He gallops a three year old skip,
soft bare feet slapping the sidewalk,
dimpled arms rhythmically moving the air,
chanting, “This is Heaven!  I’m an angel!”
His father’s ringed in grease at the plant,
won’t be home till six, and mama’s
lulled by April air, coldcuts, and a beer--
so diaperless Kubla Khan, feeling the earth
pitty-pat beneath his feet, arms parting the air,
exclaims in the pure pinnacle of wisdom,
“This is Heaven!  I’m an angel!”

First published South Coast Poetry Journal (Fall 1987).