The Bible Kings

The Bible Kings

Ride bikes

Through the stream

Where the red rocks ruptured

The forehead of a man

Running from a man
And another man

With a hunting knife

They’re out past lunchtime

And dinnertime

They told their Sunday school teacher

That they were going on a trip

To the historic church

Near Benson-Harris

For research about something

And the teacher said ‘Fine’

Because he wanted to sleep in anyway

His wife hasn’t been home in two weeks

And he’s starting to realize

He might have to think about

Going to look for her
In the event
That she wants
To be found

The Bible Kings aren’t going anywhere near Benson-Harris

Or any old church that’s probably haunted

Instead they go to the mall

On the other side of Scoville

Where you’d never know

People go to church on Sunday’s

Because the parking lot was full

And every store had people

Trying on shoes

And buying flat pizza

In the food court

The Bible Kings take turns

Jumping in and out of the fountain

Scooping up handfuls of pennies

Until the security guard catches them

And chases them back

To the bike rack

Where they parked their

Birthday presents

They ride up the main strip

Past the Best Buy

And the tuxedo place

One of them wants to stop

And get something to eat

But none of them have enough money

So they say they’ll shoplift something

From the convenience store

Next to the Chipotle

But the store is packed

And none of them feel like eating

Salt and vinegar potato chips anyway

So they decide to just stay hungry

Even though they’ve been hungry

For hours

They ride onto the highway

And shout to each other

As cars go by

Honking at them

Five kids on bikes

In their Sunday best

Getting all dirty

In the breakdown lane

One of them has to go home soon

Because his grandpa is visiting

And he’s supposed to help set up his room

So his grandpa can stay there

While he crashes on the floor

In his little sister’s room

The other four Bible Kings

Have nothing to do

Since it’s a Sunday

And nobody expects them to be anywhere

Until school on Monday morning

None of them realize

That Monday is a holiday

Until they start riding back

And by then

It’s too late

To find something else to do

They ride to the middle point

Of all their houses

Which just so happens to be a rotary

That splits up streets with names

Like Elm and Montgomery

The Bible Kings fix their ties

And prepare their alibis

In case their parents ask

Even though they won’t

They want to be the kind of kids

Who have parents

That give a damn

It’d be nice to get in trouble

Every once in awhile

Otherwise what’s the point

Of riding all over time

Instead of sitting in a wood-paneled room

Underneath the church

Learning about Jesus?

They make plans for next weekend

Justore of the same

Then they ride to their respective driveways

Where cars are parked

And lights come on

Only when you set off

Their motion detector

The Bible Kings creep into houses

Where everybody is watching tv

Or doing laundry

Or drinking beer at the kitchen table

They go to their rooms

And wonder if doing whatever they want

Makes them adults

Strange

It's strange for them
But they don't know it's strange
They just know how it feels
And it feels strange

This feeling

This feeling that...

They have all the freedom in the world

And no idea

What to do with it