Yesterday I saw God

taking his smoke break
at the edge of the Firestone garage
on Hartford Turnpike.
Black Champion sweatshirt
framing the yellowed neckline
of a wife beater tank.
Black joggers and weathered
matte black Nike Air Force 1’s.
Fresh buzz cut brandished in the sun.
A blue N95 mask resting on his chest
and half a Newport between his lips—
The light turns green, he exhales.
Flicks ash to the ground,
and looks for my eyes.

By Julia Bonadies

Biography:

Julia Bonadies teaches English Language Arts at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle, and tutors in writing at Manchester Community College. In 2016, she was named Manchester Community College’s poet representative in the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. Her poetry has appeared in the national undergraduate magazine, The Albion Review, local paper The Chronicle, and various online journals and local college literary arts magazines. She is a film and plant enthusiast who resides in Vernon, Connecticut.