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Annunciation
 
Man, I wasn't off the boat
more than a day or two
when I see this Hebrew hottie
at the well. So I sidle up to her
and say, ¡Hola!
She's wearing a long blue robe,
color of the ocean,
and she's got brown eyes
deep as the ocean too.
Her name's Mary, she tells me,
but I call her Maria.

That night, I climb in her bedroom window.
She's alone in there, praying.
Who is it? she asks.
Angel, I tell her. I got something
just for you, baby, goddamn
if I don't. So we go at it,
her first time and all.

A couple months later,
she tells me she's knocked up,
but she's not sorry, because
God made her do it.
When her mama asks
who's the daddy, she says,
God sent Angel to me.

I ask her
if it's a boy, won't she please
name the kid Jesus,
after my father. Then, because I suspect
I'm not gonna be too welcome
in that family, I catch a fast boat
outta there. Later, I hear she married
some guy named Jose.

Mary Fell

If you have any comments on this poem, Mary Fell would be pleased to hear from you.

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