old town portland

by Virginia Lake

The flier in my mailbox

said I could discover

Jesus in downtown Portland

I would find him

at the Garden Church a 

storefront church

of modest proportions.

To clinch the deal, if I replied with an

RSVP, I would get a $5 coffee gift card.

The Garden Church is not really

Downtown like the Standard Insurance and

Historic Meier and Frank building.  

It is in Old Town, 

forsaken by God

and the City of Portland

The mentally ill 

relegated to the streets

have made Old Town their home.

They are assailed by rats 

sleep in tents

surrounded by garbage 

they shout and howl.

I would love to discover Jesus 

in Old Town. 

Virginia Lake is a senior auditor at Portland State University. She audits literature and writing classes. In 2022 she published two poems in Old Pal Magazine. She was 77 years old. That was her first publication.