The birds get fed every Sunday.
Three hours is all we can give them
in the church auditorium.
Some want to stay all day
but Paul and I chase them away.
As one of the homeless
walks toward the church,
Paul stops him verbally.
“Mister! Hey! Mister!”
Reluctantly the man turns around,
not because he has repented
but the voice of authority
is hard to ignore.
“Hospitality is over,”
says Paul, who, from
seven to ten, hovered over
the flock gathered for free
quiche, coffee, and tea.
Some want to stay all day
but Paul and I chase them away.
Emboldened by Paul’s example,
I accost a man who finds
a spot near a headstone
and curls up to sleep.
“Mister, you can’t rest here,”
I tell him, as though I have
authority. “We used to let
people but that didn’t work.”
He rises up from the grave,
and looks at me darkly,
another setback swallowed.
Some want to stay all day
but Paul and I chase them away.
_______________
Photo Prayer 2026-07. Photo of house sparrows taking shelter in a bare crape myrtle tree above the graveyard in front of the author’s church. Photo and text copyright 2026 by Danny Nelson Schweers.
COMMENTS
Donna S. (a theater producer and playwright) wrote:
Very powerful and poignant, Danny. Your words are mighty. Loved it.
R. J. S. (a retired commercial litigation attorney) wrote:
I love this one. Very powerful.
Cookie O. (a retired teacher, writer, and artist) wrote:
It’s sad that the people have to be there, and sad that you have to chase them. What’s ironic is that freedom for one species is the opposite for the other. “Free as a bird” signals that birds can be chased off, but are free to find food and shelter readily available elsewhere. Not so much for the people who are there bound by addiction and mental illness. They are free to continue their struggle. What is a lark for a bird is damaged hope for those people. That said, great picture!
Brent Bill (a Quaker author) wrote:
Moving. Thanks, Danny.
Greg J. (a Presbyterian pastor) wrote:
Ouch!
Diane-Louise C. (a church administrator) wrote:
Interesting take on hospitality
Walter B. (a photographer) wrote:
A very evocative poem…. A nice of sense of a ‘birds’, being a flock that gathers to be fed, but is now being shooed away by a reluctant sexton. The photo shows them waiting… Really well done!
Kira Savvy (a poet) wrote:
Awesome Danny! One storyteller to another, I appreciate a photograph that tells a story.
Rob G. (former director of a social services agency) wrote:
Oh Danny, this is haunting. Thank you for sharing. “He rises up from the grave” — that is a stunning line.
David M. (a special magistrate) wrote:
I love the repetition phrase, how pointed.
Alice V. E. wrote:
Oh, dear!
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