Brooklyn: City of Churches

At the OTB, men “cross” themselves 
as their horses race across TV screens 
double-checking their stubs 
before dropping them on the floor 

At Grace’s, women bow their heads 
in supplication under hair-dryers 
while singing verses to each another 
from beauty magazines 

At Greenpoint Savings and Trust, 
The stevedores pray their paychecks 
will last the week, and that the banks 
and their backs have a few good years left 

At St. Alphonsus, people leave evening Mass 
with fingers still warm from lighting candles 
and from writing grocery lists in the margins 
of the Book of Revelation