by Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan
"War, what is it good for? Absolutely Nothing."
—Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, “War,”
sung notably by The Temptations and by Edwin Starr.
Mothers Mary, Teresa, and Cabrini were spotted on the # 17 bus,
headed to the city to go shoe shopping.
Buddha sat cross-legged, waiting for his plane,
while Jonathan Edwards read a magazine.
John Wesley, Bodhidharma, and Mary Baker Eddy
contemplated the meaning of one and two and three.
Krishna looked at his reflection and saw Vishnu looking
back at him chewing bubble gum.
The Dalai Lama and L Ron Hubbard argued politics,
music, and art while sipping French wine.
Martin Luther marched at the protest, shouting how change is needed,
and Zoroaster banged his drum.
Mohammed and Moses were searching land surveys
as to where they should build their houses.
Confucius was heard reading from The Analects,
as Lao Tsu was seen in Central Park writing a poem.
Jesus was whispering to his cousin, John the Baptist,
about today’s newspaper headlines.
Pythagoras put down the math problem to play a game
of chess with St Francis of Assisi.
Ramachandra was seen talking to the incarnation of Mahavira,
each texting with someone else.
Mani and Guru Nanak wore sunglasses and laughed while
crowning each other in checkers.
George Fox, John Wycliffe, and Joseph Smith debated the alignment
of the stars in Tuyuca.
Adi Shankara and Emanuel Swedenborg played double Dutch
with Baal Shem Tov and Brigham Young.
Helena Blavatsky, Aurobindo, Zarathustra, and Thich Nhat Hanh
practiced downward dog.
Saint Teresa of Ávila listened while William Booth asked
Ramana-Maharshi “Who are you?”
And all the while, all the gods that have ever been, are, and will be,
were busy eating McDonald’s.
headed to the city to go shoe shopping.
Buddha sat cross-legged, waiting for his plane,
while Jonathan Edwards read a magazine.
John Wesley, Bodhidharma, and Mary Baker Eddy
contemplated the meaning of one and two and three.
Krishna looked at his reflection and saw Vishnu looking
back at him chewing bubble gum.
The Dalai Lama and L Ron Hubbard argued politics,
music, and art while sipping French wine.
Martin Luther marched at the protest, shouting how change is needed,
and Zoroaster banged his drum.
Mohammed and Moses were searching land surveys
as to where they should build their houses.
Confucius was heard reading from The Analects,
as Lao Tsu was seen in Central Park writing a poem.
Jesus was whispering to his cousin, John the Baptist,
about today’s newspaper headlines.
Pythagoras put down the math problem to play a game
of chess with St Francis of Assisi.
Ramachandra was seen talking to the incarnation of Mahavira,
each texting with someone else.
Mani and Guru Nanak wore sunglasses and laughed while
crowning each other in checkers.
George Fox, John Wycliffe, and Joseph Smith debated the alignment
of the stars in Tuyuca.
Adi Shankara and Emanuel Swedenborg played double Dutch
with Baal Shem Tov and Brigham Young.
Helena Blavatsky, Aurobindo, Zarathustra, and Thich Nhat Hanh
practiced downward dog.
Saint Teresa of Ávila listened while William Booth asked
Ramana-Maharshi “Who are you?”
And all the while, all the gods that have ever been, are, and will be,
were busy eating McDonald’s.
Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan is the first woman to be appointed Suffolk County Poet Laureate (2009-2011). She was awarded by the Walt Whitman Birthplace the title of 2017 Long Island Poet of the Year. She has been honored with a Long Island Writers Group Community Service Award and the MOBIOUS Editor-In-Chief’s Choice Award. She is the founder and president of Long Island Poetry & Literature Repository, and the Editor of Long Island Sounds Anthology. She has penned six chapbooks and a children’s book, Would You Hug a Porcupine. Tammy has earned her Ph.D. in Humanities & Culture in the Interdisciplinary Studies program at Union Institute & University. Her dissertation was on: The Healing Power of Poetry. She teaches at Long Island University at the C W Post campus.
