Quay

it might be said
he was just a hedge-priest
setting up shop
each day on the quay

gathered around him
a parish of beasts
ducks, geese, cats, and
every dog with his flea

none were rejected
neither great nor the least
sheltered in shade
of a scraggly tree

black feathered robes
billowed back pointing east
as they danced
in the breeze off the sea

with caws and squawks
he exhorted and preached
a doctrine of
the sparrows, carefree

services ended
in an open-air feast
and in prayers with
every creature on his knees

(Poetry Scales 126)