North Carolina Preacher Poem by Joseph D E Phillips

"I'm agin' it! "
spats the preacher
on the red, red carpet
his face red as a cherry.

"Put all ‘em lezbins
an' ‘em queers
in a ‘lectric fence! "

"Amen! " shout the sheep
in the red, red pews

red as the fire of hate
fueled below the mantel
marked "Ignorance Lacks Empathy"

red as the
hot, jutting veins of bigots
veins of monsters who hide
under beds and churches

red as the blood
their forefathers shed
century after long
dark century.

Might you be hungry for the
bloody, brutal sacrifices
a primitive people
once thought their god required
just to be loved?



Look here:
I've already found something
I can do better than
your version of god.

I love and forgive
without the need for the blood of anyone.