the angel

It happened two years ago?

I met a man, lying on the street,

drunk, with a bottle in his hand.

He asked for a cigarette, which I gave.

A man from another place,

he'd lived in San Diego,

and so had I.

And now he was here,

with the COVID scare just beginning.

He needed a sleeping bag.

I tried to get him one.

He needed more cigarettes,

so I gave him more.

He'd been raped by demons

down in San Diego.

He said that himself.

I'd said nothing about them.

He prayed to Jesus

and they left.

(I'd said nothing about Jesus.

I'd only mentioned COVID.)

He experienced Hell

on the way to the store

to buy a bottle of wine.

Everything slowed,

as if everyone were freezing,

and a voice came:

"This is the hell

of your own making."

Then he prayed to Jesus,

the hell vanished,

and he got his bottle of wine.

He gave me his testimony

and said that he loved me.

I left him there

on the ground.

Awhile later, I began to sob,

and went out to find him again,

my brother.

But I couldn't find him.

All that remained 

at that place was nothing

but an unopened bottle of wine.

I share his witness

every now and then.

The man was an angel

and I love him too.

Amen.