Friday, November 23, 2018

day SIX HUNDRED and SEVENTY THREE


The Last Sunday

When you go to the America First Trumpist Church it is all very white 
Of course the building is white clapboard 
And the deacon who draws you through the door is white 
And all the ladies 
And the white washed face of Jesus that beams down on you 

No matter how old you were when you went in 
Now you are five or six 
And the floor furnace is the gateway to hell 
Where the little blue flames lick and dance 
Because they know you are not actually white 

The dirt that you have soaked into your soul 
Which you pictured as an organ shaped like a cross between 
The liver and an old brown shoe from cartoons 
But you know that your soul is moldy and spotted 
You are not white and clean 

And for today’s scripture we will hear how we are justified 
To discriminate against the gays 
To revile the kneeling protester 
To stop the gift of food to the needy school children 
Because none of that is white and clean and trumply 

And then they will all stand and swear to the national flag 
And they will pray for people who are like them and for others to be like them 
Or instead you must fall on the floor furnace grate 
And be branded with dark waffle iron grids burnt into your palms 
You will not come clean 

And when they all rise as one 
Your legs no longer work 
And the congregation will fall on you because 
The right thing to do is purge the crippled, 
Remove the unclean from their midst 
Before singing one last hymn 

Amen

-Mary Gainer

No comments: