ROBBERY

   I do not like trains but trains like
me like some people who git
   bit are told mosquitos like them.
Why here I am Lord, why, here am

   I Lord is the track and a bear’s
tied to the rails with a person.
   Then you, with your conductor mind,
wonder: If I yank with my might

   the lever, the steering wheel to
die—will I derail or live in
   a split second, running over
the bear yelping Weep me, weep me,

   think of your children, pretty please,
check yes who you like more… do you
   hear that chime playing? Imagine
light dancing in bulbs. Casinos.

—

From Issue 2 of Mark: A Journal of Christian Poets

—

Chris Crowder is from Flint, Michigan, and his debut
poetry collection, The Kin of Nakedness, will be publishe
by Four Way Books in March 2026. Managing Editor for
The Adroit Journal, his work has appeared or is forthcoming
in The Rumpus, The Georgia Review, Best New Poets, MQR: Mixtape,
TriQuarterly, The Boiler, Mark, Indiana Review, Witness,
the VS podcast, and elsewhere. chriscrowderwrites.com