Pierce the Veil

We want to know 
What is on 
The other side. 

We light a candle, 
Slide a twenty into the tithing envelope 
And a five in the Salvation Army. 

Even the curmudgeon agnostic 
Sneaks a peak at his horoscope 
When the wife’s not looking. 

And ghost hunters crime stoppers fortune tellers
Priests and psychics 
Always make the rent. 

We peer, we want to pierce 
The veil 
With the corners of our eyes, 
The sharp, gilded tissue of the book of revelations,
Or the mercy stroke 
Of the laying on of hands 

So that, on late frozen afternoons, 
We squint into snowbeams 
Seeking a flutter of wings 
In the sparkling fog.