God And Austerity Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

God and Austerity

The supermarket which calls itself Forum,
has a bell tower, but now in time of
austerity no one flocks to buy anything
when its bells rings every hour.

Sunday, when I drove my wife to church
the car park was full and the bells didn’t
toll in vain; and when I looked through
the window people were singing hymns.

When time is good, god becomes distant
But now with economic times and threats
of a new war is looming, people turn to
an abstraction in time of a unsure future.

Mind, god looks after his own flock, walking
around the car park I noticed most cars
looked new, but if you have got it and want
to keep it a prayer goes a long way.