By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
Political Christ doubles the stoop scene by placing Jesus on both sides, turning flowers, mule, street witness, and poverty's knowledge toward terror.
This version makes the religious frame explicit from the title forward, then immediately sets Jesus on both sides of a divided scene. The mule, white robes, and street person keep the sacred imagery grounded in ordinary poverty rather than institutional power. The closing phrase Talking to terror makes the poem less a comfort than a confrontation, with less still knowing what more denies.
A fuller 'Political Christ' that now names its theology: 'Jesus on both sides', the doubled punctuation of 'Being there,,' insisting on presence. The mule 'With white robes on top' and the 'street person / getting a stand / on a stoop' keep the sacred ground-level, and the paradox holds -- 'less has always / known more about what / more says does not exist'. It closes 'Orr both sides / Talking to terror', tipping the comfort into confrontation.