honey
i am so mad
i could spit
there i was
on the line with the one
and
only
divine being
don’t even
begin
to ask me for a formal name
like Mohammed, Christ, etc.
or whether it’s a
he or she
there was this mention of
boils
and
personal plagues
for revealing
heavenly secrets
so don’t even go there
anyway
as i was saying
there i was
well actually it was a conference call
with several other folks on the line
but that’s not important
i was the one
from
our
neighborhood
on the line
not pastor brown
but anyway
not to boast
or anything
i had just asked this question
’bout what was the true religion
well all hell broke out then
there were folks saying
it’s mine
no it’s mine
it was just like listening
to a group of kindergarten children
arguing over a dead bug
one person claimed
the church was like a pot bellied stove
you had to attend to keep
the fires burning
another said the church was everywhere
cause god was everywhere
so there wasn’t any reason
to hang out with a bunch of hypocrites
then child
some fools
chimes in
that god was on his side for war
of course
someone else called him a name
that I can’t repeat right now
but let’s just say
that they are no longer among us
on this earth for
that little outburst
so then without warning
someone begins
to talk about religion
and politics
oh child
if you could’ve heard
the thunder at that point
you would know
never
on any given day
to make the connection
but the words were spoken
and the answer was quite clear
wait
just give me a minute
honey
oh yes
something about
render to Caesar
i just can’t remember right now
but
that was
followed by something
to do with
oh yes
how there was only one way to truth
and then
all i heard
was
you never heard what i said
you’ve created a shopping mall
for religion
so you can
pick and choose
what you want
rather than
do what
i
said
then honey
the line
went
dead
I like the ‘pot bellied stove’ very much.
Someone once said something to the effect of religion being for people who are afraid of hell and spirituality being for people who’ve been there.
Your comment on my Micheal Bublé poem made me smile, thank you! How did you ever end up on my blog? Anyway – I’m not sure whether I’m allowed to, but I laughed hearing this poem. It’s great!
Amazing…
The hypocrites’ fry the religion,
the common man cry for redemption!
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well, you’ve raised a thorny issue here Martin.I bet you’ll get diverging opinions depnding on our religious affiliations and backgrounds.personally , I believe that there is one religion which takes different labels but the source is one : God.well done Matin.
by the way , the way you read the poem makes it funny at some points.
wow. just wow.
Am really enjoying these conversational poems. I like the way this one opens up ideas towards the end without answering them and then the sudden end.
Beautifully said and with humor to boot. But what spoke loudly to me, was our responsibility (duty, ? I need a really powerful word right here) in listening to what He is saying to us. I like that you chose to be His Messenger-of-the-Day. Of our own free will, we must choose His; giving ourselves fully and humbly in His honor.
“you’ve created a hooping mall for religion”…wow, you nailed it right there! I think most of us have the same destination in mind but are taking different roads to get there. I used to be very involved in a church, and have withdrawn from it because of the tremendous amount of hypocrisy involved in organized religion…so many interpretations or ignore what they don’t want to hear and judge others but don’t think the same message applies to them. I think one can have just a close relationship with their God without the church structure, it’s a personal relationship.
man has really messed yet another thing up
shopping mall aint that the truth
glad God can see thru the hypocrisy of man and chuckle
wild play with your thoughts…
love the piano.
Happy Thursday!
A man who speaks his thoughts with his passion. 🙂
I like the “shopping mall” reference. Quite a phone conversation!
The voice is very strong in this narrative. I truly felt like I was there.
haha. i love it…i could see the hand movements with the sass….
Nice! This one swept me up and kept moving me along. You never disappoint. And the title… it resonates so strongly. My family plays it at EVERY funeral (so far).
Loved the tone, the voice, of this one!
Good story line and a clever way to tell it. The form matches the phone call setting and everything flows nicely to a perfectly logical conclusion. Some good metaphors along the way. Nice writing, overall… sounds like you’re still listening to your pen.
I LOVE it when you write in that voice. This was really an outstanding read. I can’t pick it apart, it’s just great.
Wow.
Pearl
Hey Charlie!!!
nice one:) I love your sarcasm…
Have a great Memorial Week-end!
Mirella
Amazing poem. I enjoy how this raises all the right questions without ever pushing blame on any group. It leaves the reader to decide what to think of it. I really enjoyed this.
OMG! I was laughing all through this! I grew up in church every Sunday until I was 18. Then I went out to find what I really believe about God, life, death, and I’m still working it out.
Too important to me to leave it to other people (or my own ego, really) with their million and one agendas, in the “shopping mall.” hahaha
Thanks for this one!
Bravo!
love the structure; the short choppy lines in themselves express the chaos, the mess. Humorous and witty and so right.