.
Helga Moses
who lives in a converted stable,
among shagged out donkeys
and a lone llama with attitude
near Mangotsfield,
along with her black cat Beelzebub
bunions, oxygen mask and cylinder
and her fire escape trade convictions,
has a painting circa eighteen something
of a long-haired bearded oik
draped in off-white bedsheets
that hangs skewiff on a nine inch nail
above the cast-iron mantlepiece
festooned with knick-knacks.
one of which, a silver menorah
bound in gaffer tape
-the result of a misguided launch
at her husband Moses Moses' cranium
when suggesting Helga consign hers
to a cauldron of water at gas mark six,
came from the Promised Land via Helga 's late father
whose skullcap, along with Moses',
sits on a commode
collecting dust.

in the painting
the oik swathed in linen,
his head for all the world as though backlit
by a secreted halogen bulb
of substantial wattage,
sits in a forest

or a wood

or a small coppice
possibly with a picnic area out of shot
where all the teddy bears that ever there was
gather to feast on smoked salmon and cucumber bagels
courtesy of Helga's kitchen
with its large pine table and chairs
aga
and mug tree

and for the sake of not having to call the bearded oik oik
the bearded oik will be known as Jesus
-neither the most flattering nor popular of names,
least not in this neck of the woods
or forest
or small coppice
but beggars can't be choosers, and he
looking every bit the vagrant
attired thus along with his
i forgot to mention sandals
gleaned in all probability from a bin,
sits
embracing a little boy and girl,
seeming genial and accommodating
not the type to throw a tantrum in Helga's kitchen
upsetting
the large pine table and chairs
the mug tree
the plates of freshly made smoked salmon
and cucumber bagels

nor the teddy bears

rather
one who'd show them
for example
how to rub sticks together to make a fire
yet extolling the dangers of turning the immediate oaks
to ash

the sort who'd also afford the cherubs
a smoked salmon and cucumber bagel
if he had one

though nowadays
he'd be crucified
.
.