LEAP OF FAITH (Revised, 12.31.06)


The woman on the bus
yanks the cord with
the intensity of her
life, it's comical, how she

hangs onto that line
and yells at the driver to
stop as we cross the bridge,
we are suspended

above the abyss.
STOP THE BUS NOW
she shouts PLEASE STOP
THE FUCKING BUS

until we pray for the driver
to give in and the bus
jerks to a halt
we all lurch forward

as if bent in prayer.
The woman scrabbles off
with her black trash bags,
her ballast, she means to

take her life, and as
the accordion doors
seal shut with a shush
an ambulance screams by--

she means to fly
down below down into
the valley of death and
transfiguration, we


cannot even imagine,
we smoosh our faces
against the undersea glass
as she mounts the bridge

wall and spreads her arms,
and for a moment she
floats in desperate space, she
flies, and falls, and someone

shouts HALLELUJAH!
for her soul, and ourselves
as well. The bus moves on,
a blessing for these

pilgrims bearing witness,
seeking redemption in
a sign, a symbol,
anything to live on.