Congregation: A Gathering

I say to myself:

     I can be Godly for him.

Some people say that I already am.

Come then, Gentlemen, let me be

your religion or philosophy, I'll gladly take

you on your knees.

Atop this soapbox (or two

     or three) I preach things:

of unity and practicality, self-medicating,

passion, faith in only man, and praise.

You all seek my consul, my judgment, and aid;

I am confounded but still accustomed.

I have shoulders built

     to bare this burden.

From it shall arise a church,

for what failure has become of

us, that has enveloped us, encompassed us,

and embodied us.

Ascendant in all human matters,

     aethereal in image and reason,

I include myself amongst my peers

but am no prophet. Seeking pure worship

when walking with the gathering masses. Truly

a Deity as previously proclaimed.

According to the polls

     I'm taking on followers

and new believers. Be forewarned,

we are a dinghy

with a gaping fist-punch

through the hull.

Reviews

[Pax Analog]

I love this!

Very cheeky savvy rumination on God and humans and what is indeed praise-worthy. You hit on why I favor aware writing itself as scripture, as all-inclusive genre, hence my ScriptureX.1 interlocking absurdist parable book.

"According to the polls/I'm taking on followers/and new believers. Be forewarned,/we are a dinghy/with a gaping fist-punch/through the hull."

There is more wisdom in those lines than centuries of musty texts, pious monumentalizations, politicized book burnings -- indeed even the secular religion of corporate capitalism. Counterfeit f*****g world.

Crazy-wise and cool.

[Pen Draggin']

I agree with you, Dave. I think that the poem really does end with that imagery but I didnt realize it until you pointed it out, I'm taking that advice :) Also, yes there is a very sexual undertone, I am so f*****g happy you picked up on it!

[DavidRyanM]

I dig this a lot, dear. Definitely different than anything else I've read of yours in a while. I like the almost sexual undertone to a piece about religion. Maybe I just found sex where there wasn't any, but, if it is actually there, it's brilliant.

"Come then, Gentlemen, let me be
your religion or philosophy" brilliant, strong lines. This is the part that had me reading until the very end. The only change I might make is end with "fist-punch through the hull.." Strong imagery and a could kick to end on, but that's just me. Good work, dear.

I'm not sure if this is about hypocrisy of religion or just pointing out that so many people run to it when they want answers to problems. I've been exposed to many forms of religion and found most of them fundamentally the same. Unfortunately, many tend to burden followers with unnecessary rules and regulations. I have mixed emotions about the whole subject.

[R E Tree]

In most religions the man is the one in charge in religious things. If the man of the family had a religion it would be wise for the woman of the family to follow that religion too to support the man and bring there children up religiously. I thought the flow carried through the stanza's were amazing. Everything you said so true and no one can disagree. Just one error I noticed the line "when walking with the gathering masses. Truly" shouldn't truly be at the beginning of the next line. And I would not use full stops in the middle of lines becuase it corrupts the flow

[Leap]

If you were born as a black man in the 1930's delta, you'd not only be a prevalent preacher, you'd be god at the blues too. I love this for obvious reasons, but something else struck me...it goes well with Juggernaut. I depict you as righteous indignation picking up believers left and right. Our displeasure with the rape of what 'belief in the supreme' should be. How people corrupt something that could be beautiful before it even gets a chance. This feels like that same disgust only told from the point of view of a real Goddess on earth and her bleed of angelic potential by those who live to kill the divine with ugly opportunism. O, and the fact that you used the word dinghy...uber f*****g smart Lady of mine.