hello, my name is Rajeev.
i’m sixty-three.
my life changed this year
on christmas eve.

my wife
passed of cancer
in 1997. and with that, her
salvation was uncertain.

i’m still mourning. and
overflowing with uncertainty
too. since her death,
i haven’t moved the Buick.

americans celebrating a birth.
was it just because?
i always wondered who this
fellow jesus was.

you see, my friend Haidar
never understood me.
his business. his life.
they’re both much different.

we meet in salat
on fridays.
but only because
he’s my ride.

anyways, i don’t like to drive
ever since my wife died.
but i called him last night.
just after midnight.

after my encounter with
a man who was
mesmerized
by my only client.

this man, a friendly chap.
carried good conversation.
he even paid $50 cash
for room one eleven.

then he just vanished
off into the night. and
in the morning
the woman thanked me

for some candy canes
that she thought i had left.
as she went on and on telling
me stories about jesus.

that morning i was
introduced to
a new way of life.
confirmation. my heart was right.

so this friday im skipping
salat
and i’m going to take
Haidar and his family
out

in the Buick.