A sandal flipped down
From above at Jesus’ words
Of caution about
Mammon, as if the
Girl in the low balcony
Was cut to the quick
And had decided
Then and there to give up
Half her possessions.
Swiftly, the grey haired
Usher retrieved the errant
Footwear from the aisle
Then with a sly grin
And a softball pitcher’s art
Lobbed his prize aloft
To land again with
Its astonished owner – a
Prodigal returned.
The priest, unwitting,
Labored with his homily
On simple living
But at the back, we
Turned our minds instead to the
Sandal and the girl
And the hundredfold
Pressed down and running over
That God loves to give.
Penguin Poems 