“You might be the Prince of Peace returning”*

By Dick Eiden

Dick is a writer, attorney, and political activist living in Vista, California. He is the author of Paying the Rent, an autobiograpical account of anti -war and civil rights activism in the 1960’s and beyond. The book is available on Amazon.

The title of the poem is taken from the title of a song by Leon Russell.
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“You might be the Prince of Peace Returning”

You might be an angel who cries
when seasons change and leaves
float in air with complex molecules
​in droplets and dew on bushes near 

the last man standing in the burning
ring of fire that forged the westward
expansion of the promised land to the
doughnut shop on Coast Highway

where the homeless guy sleeps on the roof
in a bag that saved his life from the cold-
hearted people on the sidewalk not
wearing masks, not smiling at him.

You might think there was nothing 
of value for you here, people sick
and struggling without money for
medicine or food on the table or

the fridge where you stare into
emptiness and wonder if it’s time
to go somewhere people care 
for each other, and you will.
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                                                                                       June 20, 2020