The Church of Mr. Pea
Jim Daniels
He lives at the center of the universe
twenty miles north of Dayton, Ohio
or Yuma, Arizona. No one's sure.
He could be living next door.
He's a hard pea. His needs are few.
His father's dead, but he does have
a Holy Spirit—the last tiny breath
of each person dying now/now/now.
Mr. Pea travels eyeball to eyeball.
He never dies himself. Just keeps
getting harder and harder. Still
pretty green, but I wouldn't call it
a miracle. You can worship Mr. Pea
in the privacy of your own home.
Mr. Pea doesn't take up collections.
We all got a little piece of Mr. Pea
inside us. You can decide yourself
how it got there.
Mr. Pea had a feather once.
Any feather could be that feather.

