holy mary

a pregnant kid
knocking doors on a donkey
with the real daddy
nowhere to be seen

today / mary wd be just another
irresponsible teen
shamed
disowned
& stigmatised
with all kinds of dirty jokes
about who else she had been riding

i know a mary
in fact
i know two
mary lives next door to me
& another serves fries at the local KFC
a swollen bellied brown girl
desperate to make ends meet

greasy fingered gossip
over faux mash & gravy:
wow / that chick is about to lay an egg
she must be about / what / fifteen
how the hell does that shit even happen

mary does a little table service then
for free

it just happens she says
that’s the thing about shit
isn’t it
& by the way
you're not getting no f*cking fries with that
you judgemental dick

these burbs aren’t bethehem
bt i hear herald angels sing
& when this mary’s babe is born
to her / he will also be a king:
a chance to make the world a better place
& who knows how many lives her child might save:
raised by a plucky kid
holy / in her own defiant way
to give righteousness
a different kind of face