How Often Do You Ask?
#5 of Poetry
CW: Religious call and response lines are used in the poem.
With everything going on with the president lately, I've seen a lot of folks ask that we be sympathetic.
Now I am no stranger to this kind of logic, in which even after someone has demonstrably hurt you, it
is expected of you to behave nicely or positively toward them. And it got me thinking about the disconnect
between what organized religion preaches and what is actually practiced by many members. Because that same
kind of disconnect happens there. So enjoy this Poem I wrote on a lunchbreak about it.
How Often Do You Ask?
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Fuel for the fire
And bones meant to rust
And from that ash
Am I reborn?
Clad in scales
And a great deal of scorn?
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Fuel for the fire
And bones meant to rust
How can I stay
So comfortably calm?
I suppose getting angry
Won't fit in a Psalm
When you hear his name
Harden not your heart
God forbid you feel
Justified for once
So I'll grow out my scales
And harden my skin
Grant me the claws
To shred open my kin
When you hear his name
Harden not your heart
God forbid you feel
Justified for once
Wings to lift me
Up above
To dine with angels
In their grove
Gloria! Gloria!
In Excelsis Deo!
Moved by the spirit
Till movement causes change
How often do you ask
that people who cause
the most harm
get even a fraction of
the wrath of God
you give yourself?
Gloria! Gloria!
In Excelsis Deo!
Moved by the spirit
Till movement causes change