Waters of Baptism

facts in poems I fashion
are facts actually, usually

going about since October,
last year, for eight months now,
with this interesting information

interestingly, since hearing of this,
it has become even more interesting

since hearing of this, Donald Trump
has become president of the USA

and what makes it
additionally interesting yet,
is that I am at present the guest
of the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral
and his family, here in Blantyre, Malawi

I am certainly very happy to be living
upon the very grounds of the cathedral

which permits me to be served porridge
and to eat it and then to attend prayers,

Monday to Saturday, for 30 minutes,
commencing at 8 AM each morning

the Dean of the Cathedral
and I are friends, I can certainly say

our friendship commenced, actually,
with our very first meeting,
a conversation in his office
which lasted for more than 4 hours

it was in that conversation when I was told
of the Dean’s having sojourned in New York

as a younger priest, told of how, in 2007,
after a baptism he performed, he was informed
that he had just baptized the grandson of a billionaire

that billionaire being, Mr. Donald Trump,
same Donald Trump who, ten years since
is the 45th president of the USA

amazing how humble the Dean
of the cathedral is

his wife and he have four daughters,
he was born in 1964, ten years after I was

wondering ever since hearing this story
if Donald Trump is aware
that this humble African Anglican priest
baptized his now ten-year-old grandson

this poem is my attempt to whisper in his ear
to make a connection for whatever it is worth,

with Malawi and the president of the USA
with Donald Trump and Blantyre, Malawi

with the president of the USA and the Dean
of St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, here in Malawi

small world, certainly is indeed a true statement

same Donald Trump used to own
what is now Atlantis, on Paradise Island,

largest tourist resort in the entire Bahamas
where I am from

how our lives touch, knitted together,
a vibrant variety of colors to make a world

© Obediah Michael Smith, 2017
1:30 AM Saturday 13.5.17