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“Christ was on time, dammit! The world called And He arrived!”

“You don’t believe all that guff, do you?”

“Yes!” I was astonished hat vehe his limbs to his thorn-crowned head

“Fool”

“No, I’m not!” I tried to think what Fritz would say if he were here, but there was only me, so I said:

“We arrived, J C We poor stupid hu or Christ, it’s all the same The world, or God, needed us, to see the world, and know it So we arrived! But we got ive ourselves forsuch a mess So Christ arrived, afte

r us, to say e should have known: forgive Get on with your work So Christ’s arrival is just us all over again And we’ve kept on arriving for two thousand years, iveness of self I’d be frozen forever if I couldn’t forgive ht now, you’re up a tree, hating yourself, so you stay nailed on a cross because you’re a self-pitying pig-headed diet the hell down before I climb up to bite your dirty ankles!”

There was a sound like a ht J C, his head thrown back, sucked air to refuel his laughter

“That’s some speech for a coward!”

“Don’t fear me, mister! Beware of yourself, Jesus H Christ!”

I felt a single drop of rain hit my cheek

No I touched ertip Salt

J C, above, leaned out, staring down

“God” He was truly stunned “You care!”

“Da will come, with his horsewhip!”