God's Green Earth

What in God's Green Earth
is that?

we sometimes hear
somebody say

in a moment of
bewilderment
about a hideous bug
or a slimy glob
in the bottom of a can...

What on God's Green Earth
is That?!

as we mistake a
tree or a shrub
or pile of rubbish

for a creature,
or monster,
or unknown person...

a fleeting moment
a trick of the eyes

What On God's Green Earth
IS THAT?!!

with shock and fear
and surprise

sometimes at something
bizarre and ridiculous
or outright Stupid and senseless

like a pile of 6,000 sneakers
strewn at the side
of a railroad track

or a photograph of a ragged
dirty 3 year old girl
squatting in a sea of garbage
and filth, holding a broken
doll arm and an old, used straw.

or the skeletal remains of a
pelican revealing the stomach contents
are a plastic tampon applicator,
a water bottle top and a bic lighter.

or a black, oozing pit of filth
and putridity and death
that goes on as far as the eye can see
for miles and miles and miles

where once stood
a forest
a lake
a river
a home
a heart
a life.