Blackbirds

Reuben is an angel in the debris and gutters
with wings of rainwater, bottle tops and vodka.
Mumbling, ecstatic,
the stigmatic mystic disciple.
Blackbirds mock him;
they have numbered all his bones.
He is despised by men,
Who roll dice for his grubby clothes.
A man of strong esprit and faith
Who drinks vinegar and cheap black coffee,
Wearing a sleazy crown
of newspaper flowers and thorns.
Preaching to the Magdalene
on Third Avenue;
a dumpster prophet,
Patron saint of poverty -
Apostle of the beggars.