Moral Bankruptcy

***The 2nd of two poems submitted and rejected by The New Yorker. ****

When demons do fight

with knives and chains

looking to eat the masses.

Talons crooked

deep within the chest

attached to the godly soul

draining it of emotion.

The pain and despair

candy upon their lips

as they feed upon those

who litter the entryway to hell.

All who have claimed thy kingdom come

wake within sulfuric pits

burning within

burning without

paying for their sins.

It was hard to fathom

a great shock

gasps of alarm

upon awakening at Satan’s gate.

Voices wailed

decrying their goodness

their godliness

they did all they could to be true to the Lord’s word.

They trod on the rights of women.

They stamped down the rights of the LGBT.

They dismissed children whose voices

rose

calling them all assholes.

Cleansed the land of all those not alike.

But that was what we were taught

upon the knees of our fathers

and grandfathers.

There must be a mistake.

No mistakes here

only men who will now muster

confederates to their crimes

and they shall try to seize the demons place

only to discover there is another bottom to hell.

March 18/18

Photo by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash