GOD SPEAKS

through Charlie,
a sniggering fat
humpbacked bell ringer
ringing in death
reborn in April's breath
breathing life into flowers,
a mauling of Johnny's beauty,
in a tangle of slippery truths,
whose roots are thorns
pricking fingers of shame.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2019

A HUNCHBACK IN DISGUISE?

(bent) back hump
shadow looms lost
among natural things. trapped
in mosaic and stained
glass answers the following
question: can god be
a deformity?
the answer,
on the screen, in black and white
clearly tells us
that we may
be looking
in the wrong
places.

Norman Savage
Coney Island, 1971