"Christians, Have Mercy!"--a Poem on Christian Love and "Immoral" Atheism

This poem was also formally rejected, but as with "Rubicon," I believe it too good not to be published.  I think it is quite effective as a poem, notably with its use of change of voice, and the ironic humor.  Also, as an atheist and ex-Catholic, the subject matter is indeed close to my heart--GF

CHRISTIANS, HAVE MERCY!

by

George Fish

 

Show a little of that

vaunted Christian love,

that “love thy neighbor

as thyself” feeling—

especially toward us

“immoral” atheists!

Please realize just how

hard we “immoral”

atheists have it:

after a hard day of

raping, robbing,

pillaging and murdering,

the only way we atheists

can relax in the evening

is through wild drug and

sex orgies, until we finally

get some sleep by passing

out in a drug-and-alcohol-

induced stupor!  Damn it,

we’re so busy in the daytime

raping, robbing, pillaging

and murdering we barely

have time for lunch—all we

can do is grab a baby to eat

while on the run!  Please!

It just ain’t that easy being

sleazy!  And besides, surely

you Christians yourselves

know something about

moral sleaze—after all,

you’ve practiced it regularly

for two millennia to date,

and still counting!  You’re

the ones who burnt people

alive for allegedly being

witches, heretics, or homosexuals,

you’re the ones responsible for the

ecclesiastical murder of Giordano

Bruno and the persecution of Galileo,

not to mention the infamous

Magdalene laundries in Ireland,

or the mass graves of Indigenous

children in Canadian schools

run “for” them by the

Catholic Church, which even

Pope Francis couldn’t bring

himself to fully apologize for!

You’re also the ones who gave us

Catholic priest-pedophilia and its

deliberate cover-up by bishops and

cardinals, “Prosperity Gospel”

hucksters like Joel Osteen and

Creflo Dollar, venomous hate

preachers such as Pat Robertson

and Jerry Falwell, and the

Christian Nationalist zealots who

rally around “I’m proud to be a

Christian” Donald Trump, with his

three wives and two divorces, his

“grab ‘em by the pussy” rhetoric,

and his notably—Stormy—relationships

with women!  And the list goes on

and on—and on!  Yet, you Christians accuse

us, the atheists, of being the “immoral”

ones!  Have you tried looking in the mirror

sometimes, Christians?   Try it.  That’s

where you’ll find the “immorality” you

think is everywhere under the Goddamn sun,

lurking under each and every secular bed,

hiding in each promiscuously tolerant

nook and cranny! 

"Rubicon"--a Poem on the 2016 Presidential Election

 Although Blue Collar Review, "Journal of Progressive Working Class Literature," declined to publish "Rubicon," it did send me a very nice, most appreciative, rejection notice from the editor, who spent a whole substantive paragraph explaining the basis for the rejection, and hoping to see more of my poems.  I think the problem with "Rubicon" for "progressive" journals is that, while certainly left in content and intent, it's just too oblique for self-styled "progressive' publications, literary journals or not.  It's been refused by others as well, but I feel it's certainly good enough for publication, which is why I'm posting on "Politically Incorrect Leftist."  Here in Indiana, I knew people who enthusiastically voted for Bernie Sanders in the May 2016 Democratic primary, but when November came around, held their noses and voted for Trump, because they couldn't abide Hillary Clinton.  For my part, I couldn't abide voting for Clinton either, so I voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein--which made no difference, of course, in Deep Red Indiana, which went overwhelmingly for Trump--GF 

RUBICON

by

George Fish

 

He had never voted

Republican in his

life, and had voted

eagerly for

Bernie Sanders in

Indiana’s 2016 primary

last May; but now it

was November, and

he could not bring

himself to vote for

Hillary Clinton.

He stared pensively

at the Presidential

section of the ballot

before him, muttered

to himself, “Hope this

doesn’t go wrong,”

and filled in the circle

beside the name of

Donald J. Trump.

He’d now been

unemployed for the

past several months,

ever since the town’s

last factory had shuttered.

He stared piercingly

at the circle he’d filled in

on the Presidential section

of the ballot for several

very long seconds, then

moved swiftly to fill in all

the other circles on the ballot,

filling in each one beside the

Democratic candidate listed.