blessings upon you, he says, and means it

At the gold speckled counter, my pal in white apron—

index finger tapping his Arabic paper, 

where the body count dwarfs 

the one in my Times—announces, 

You're killing my people. 

 

But in Hell's Kitchen, even the Antichrist 

ought to have coffee—one cream 

and two sugars. Blessings 

upon you, he says, and means it. 

 

[Mary Karr {1955- } 'Easter at Al Qaeda Bodega', from Sinners Welcome]