The fat man pierced her thighs with beady stares
Winced as sweat stung his crow feet eyes
Smacked his lips and sipped beer with incongruent delicacy
The sun bore down
A waitress served pies and pints with inordinate distaste
In the street a dust devil whipped garbage in the air
A priest in haste spat the dust from his mouth
Chaste and world weary
En route for heaven on Earth he was not
A mass of humanity swirling and seething like a cauldron
Bubbling up here and there only to subside again
Waste everywhere
Impatiently the priest swept the urchin aside
She looked up at him with the eyes of an accuser
Too young to know of such hypocrisy
Exposed nonetheless
The fat man fantasised the removal of her dress
Neither in the company of the blessed nor yet condemned
All hell breaks loose in the minds of men
While listless heaven awaits just around a bend
Harvey Taylor Art and Performance 