Working Crowd Control
John Davis
POETRY / Spring 2026 Literary Series
John Davis is the author of Gigs, Guard the Dead, and The Reservist. His work has appeared in DMQ Review, Iron Horse Literary Review and Terrain.org. He lives on an island in the Salish Sea and performs in several bands.
https://johndavispoet.wordpress.com/about/
John was dunking, splashing, chanting his frantic chant, no panic but man, those cold sober folks lined up to be dunked when this dude walked up. Mind you, the wind whipped up and frost covered the desert. We were shivering when this dude (musta been 30 or so) steps up and John steps up and says he can’t do his deed on the dude, but the dude insists. John’s hands held his sandals and damn if the sky didn’t blaze-up, open wide and the dude— I’m telling you this dude was just a carpenter with hammers in his satchel—he vanished. Disappeared. You think I was drinking wine but I’d been on the wagon two weeks working crowd control for John. The pay wasn’t much and the benefits sucked. What happened? Who was he? Here’s the thing—John stopped chanting and said I’m not worthy which scared us. The restless crowd stopped crowding and the cold wind stopped colding. Damnedest thing I ever saw. Forty days later I saw the dude at a party. Rumor had it he brought bread and wine for thousands. I musta been drunk. Wine sure was smooth.
Contributor’s Notes
This is a retelling of the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. I have kept the language contemporary from the point of view of someone having trouble rehabilitating himself. He is wowed by Jesus. He cannot believe the miracles. The man’s only explanation is that he must have imagined these miracles in a drunken state. Jesus was just beginning to wow others. Could he really be the Messiah?