Prologue

The rules, once again applied
One loaf = one loaf. One fish = one fish.
The so-called three kings were dead.

And the woman who had been healed grew tired of telling
her story.
and sometimes asked her daughter to tell it.

People generally worshiped where their parents had
worshipped--
The men who’d hijacked the airplane prayed where the dead
pilots had been sitting,
and the passengers prayed from their seats
-- so many songs went up and out into the thinning air…

People, listening and watching, nodded and wept, and,
leaving the theater,
one turned to the other and said, What do you want to
do now?
And the other one said, I don’t know. What do you want
to do?

It was the Coming of Ordinary Time. First Sunday,
second Sunday.
And then (for who knows how long) it was here.

~ Marie Howe