The Miracle

EBay offered thousands for the
face of Jesus in a
grilled cheese sandwich.
We all laughed
that someone would bid
so high
for burnt cheese.
But from the porch
I looked closely at our
big cottonwood tree,
its bark a maze
of crevices,
deep and rugged.
like crevasses in a mountain
pass. and creatures filled the cracks:
large black ants
winnowing grain and
death, carrying bodies high into
the leaves above.
To my mind came
a vision, a large visage
blinking back at me.
I thought
its beard an ancient cut,
as if Christ himself were
imbedded there.
I placed a sign by the
street, and wrote in black:
“See Jesus for a dollar.”
Then I waited.
The curious followed,
eyeing me
from red bicycles, pushing babies
in black buggies, and the bravest
walked up the porch stairs
and asked: “Can I see him
now?”
And soon the line stretched round
the corner, I had fifty dollars,
and a TV newsman waited
with his camera to talk
to me.