He stood as if he wanted to join

Tall with a patriarchal white beard

Dirty blue sweatshirt embroidered

With flowers, the smell of deep

Earth on him, hands stained dirty

A knit cap close on his head.

Finally he stepped forward, just

Five minutes, he asked, to tell you

The end of the world and proceeded

To lecture with clear eyes and voice

A confusion of biblical verses,

Wall Street, Masonic symbols,

Conspiracies, as poets toyed with

Their pencils and looked down.

Finally the timekeeper tapped

His watch and the leader shook

His head, sorry time is up.

The man stopped in mid-speech

Triumphant, see, he told them,

Five minutes and the whole story

And wandered away looking back

Expectantly as if the saved might 

Follow him under the freeway

Bridge huddled against the rains.

—  Emily Strauss