STATE OF PLAY

Tags

irony, poem, poem poetry political moral, poetry, satire, Truth

STATE OF PLAY

a God that
loves
absolute Truth
(with as
big a
capital “T”
as you
can get)

a Universe
that loves
irony

a Devil that loves
lies more
than any
politician

and me
with my
little, stupid
rhymes

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FAIR TRADE

Tags

Devil, Hell, money, poem, poetry, satire

FAIR TRADE

the queue for Hell
is very long
has been
backed up
for centuries

billions of
souls waiting in line

for the Devil to appear
sell them tickets

FROM THE PAGE

Tags

dissent, Fascism, poem, poem poetry political moral, poetry, totalitarianism, writing

FROM THE PAGE

was writing, writing
writing

could not get the words right
(right meaning “exact”,
not in league with
some
masquerading devil

who would march us up
in our regiments, crisply uniformed,
to the iron
gates of Heaven

where angels with machine-guns
check our credentials
let us In)

no the words, as you see here, were
running away from me
flying off at tangents
swirling on the wind
without focus or power

and who would read such
preposterous metaphors,
ridiculous images
Cassandra warnings of
the end to all polity?

and yet
hopeless as the poem is
however ineffectual

the forces of denial are battering away
smashing at my door, pressed up
against my window
desperate to prevent my pen
producing a line, managing
a choice phrase

for this dominion must be absolute, no
dissent is
tolerable

even this sad, worthless effort
blood-washed from the page

WHEN

Tags

child v adult, Crucifixion, dark v light, good v evil, Jesus, poem, poetry

WHEN

When you were a child
you were puzzled at the Crucifixion
I mean: golden, god-child Jesus
in the manger, who could
possibly wish him harm?

this, doubtless, you raised
with your parents, who,
having their own crosses
to carry
stuttered and stammered

at around which time you
noticed they cast shadows

as dark and as deep
as those
under the bed
(to which they would obviously
always be pointing

those tiny demons of Herod humanity
growing, quite naturally, in
the dark doubt spaces
left after the Passion

clinging to the light
as you negotiate them).

FOR ARE WE NOT

Tags

darkness, Devil, good v evil, Humanity, Light, Lucifer, poem, poetry, Satan

FOR ARE WE NOT

the Dark Lord
loved how the angels
would reflect
his light

until
that service
ripped from him
by higher
authority

they saw
how their refusal
changed him irrevocably
how
light unreturned

changed
to fire
a fire so intense
it could not but
reshape that former
golden form

whose molten shape bubbled
viciously, seething with
twisted, toxic
diabolical pride

true image of
pride we know so well

for are we not
ourselves divine, most
perfect species:
humankind?

OLD IRON

Tags

Humanity, inhumanity, poem, poem poetry political moral, poetry

OLD IRON

in the name
of freedom
let the Beast speak

let it have
its say
tell us how
humanity
stands in
its way

how the vote
was taken
to let the
little boats sink

the children drown
to let them him in
he must think
us clowns

that great iron Master
in the sky
that the Beast
needs worship

with iron
brain, iron
heart

MATE IN TEN HOWEVER

Tags

Big Bang, Chess, Devil, poem, poetry, space/time

has anyone ever checkmated the Devil?
when it gets to
mate in ten
expect the board to
expand infinitely, so
the game
will take forever

not the first time the prince
of deviousness
used Big Bang
inflation
to create a dark cosmos
(like this
one)

dodge the logic of defeat
changing the rules
of the game
(bending
to dark, confounding beauty

the once
simple axioms
of space and time)

ON THE MORNING OF THE 41st DAY

Tags

Dionysus, divinity, Drama, Jesus, poem, poetry, spiritual, The Devil, wine

ON THE MORNING OF
THE 41st DAY

Rabbi
I see you sent
that evil one
packing

as if a
prophet like you
or a god like me
would worship
such as that
something so tacky,
brimstone-stinky, suffused
with unholy pride

not that you or I are free of this failing
each of us in our own way
making an adjustment

so, I’m here to chat
pitch for
peaceful co-existence

though I am (amongst other things)
god of wine
I regret I did not bring any
with me to enhance this occasion
(though as god of wine
it must have struck you
that I would have got to hear
of the miracle at the wedding
such a sublime, spontaneous transformation,
and what fine vintage — all
respect to you)

but I do have some bottled water
that they gave me on the plane
on my flight from the Greek mainland;
as for those Greeks, do
not believe all they have
written about me, about
my love of blood sacrifice, mass slaughter,
the tragedy of life and
other such drama

being like you
half
human born

set on a perpetual trajectory
of death and resurrection

such an admirer of your anger
in scattering the moneylenders
and what you just did
to that
hater of
mankind

calling himself a
“fallen angel”

for here we
share something deeper than
either of us, though divine, can ever
really fathom
our love for and bond
with mankind

a love, I must admit, not
identical in kind

yes, I see in your eyes, your
condemnation for my
disposing of Pentheus (that drooling, fooling-himself,
fatally repressed high-minded fascist)
but I was
simply giving that Caesar
what was due unto that Caesar

and what
is due unto you, I would offer
reverence if reverence were possible

nothing have I to give
but
the soul of
what I am

that you as
fellow divine and mortal
know
all too well

the suffering of a god — a god
that fears he has
no place in your Kingdom

for
you turned the water to wine
healed the sick, ministered
to the poor (people of
my heart too)
you danced, something in
your words
cannot resist
the dance

but I have words
in my domain, words that
destroy or create demons, unleash
the power of holy or
unholy storms
can break

the human heart
snap it
with joy, seal it
with sadness

what place for
this? For me?

which is why my
brother, friend

I have
journeyed here.

TRIAL RUN

Tags

Devil, fake news, Hell, lies, poem, poem poetry political moral, poetry

TRIAL RUN

under that cloak
words are changed
or not the words
but how we
hear them

how
we react
credulous, openly
believing
missing every gap, fissure,
obvious contradiction

whilst
down in Hell
they are so happy
with the effectiveness
the sublime achievements
of this device

they are already
perfecting this prototype
running further
trials

hope that have this
cloak of power, this cloak
of lies
pretty soon running
into mass production

DIGITAL

Tags

Devil, digital, poem, poetry, The Matrix

DIGITAL

when the Devil
went digital

he
scrambled
the
Psalm

that promised
to save humanity

mastered that audio
added the video until
it was
pure overkill

added a backtrack sampling
sounds from every circle
of suffering over
which he holds dominion

and, wouldn’t you know it?,
when it hit the airwaves
it was a sure-fire top ten