The Jury

More inspired by than based upon.

It is this false moneyer with his gravers and burins who seeks favor with the judge and he is at contriving from cold slag brute in the crucible a face that will pass, an image that will render this residual specie current in the markets where men barter. Of this is the judge judge and the night does not end.
--Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian

we are nothing,
and we are infinite.
what we have done
will paint the far wall of space-time
a gorgeous, bloody red,
and everything that died offstage
will be set into the dancefloor
in lieu of all the boards that crack
beneath wars thereupon.

the coins that fall at the fiddler's feet
will have our names on every one,
and he will toss them to a street
that has never seen the sun.
Et in Arcadia Ego
is etched into his gun.

like steam rolling out of wounds
in the naked western night,
we slithered off tongues
until we had choked the last air
from throats that propelled them.
the word of god
is written with bullet holes,
and our violence
was the only prayer he ever heard.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

There's undeniable thought running through this near scream of sadness. The ending is (impure) tragedy. What an incredible piece of writing.
You've plaited thoughts and actions into lines of strangely beautiful language, left the reader reeling, and wondering how much more you could have written. The McCarthy influence is sound and conspicuous but you speak yourself.
There''s inexplicable frenzy to and in both religion and war that thrusts folk into doing what they'd not do in peacetime. But there again, yes, to Man's shame, history's blooded by wars mostly fired by one or other faith.

[TJ]

powerful piece you got here! i think not only does it exemplify man's bloodlust and religion's ability to drive men to do almost anything in the name of their respective gods but it also shows man's hunger for power. "the coins that fall at the fiddler's feet
will have our names on every one" very good line, lust for power will corrupt us all, especially those who get a taste of it.

[Emily B]

I read your work and then I wander through the reviews below. I can only nod admiringlt at praise well-earned.

[Robin]

'men of god and men of war have strange affinities '

not much I can add to what the faire ladies before me I have said in their eloquent and insightful ways . Fantastic literature .

[Kerry O'Connor]

One of the best books I've ever read; also the most gruesome look at human nature I have ever been party to.

I can understand McCarthy's work can inspire one to pick up a pen. Your poem captures the violence and emptiness of spirit very well.

[arbitrary jane]

mccarthy is one of the highest deities in my personal literary pantheon. the book is ... shattering, and this poem does it well as a companion song. the coins with our names on them. the painting of the far wall of space-time... and the entirety of the last stanza...
this savors of him in every one of the best ways. here is the west, the desert, the dry prophetic prose... this is everything it should be.

[Sel Whiteley]

Knowing Blood Meridan, I can see why you choose to put the quote at the top. I love that book. But I love this poem just as much. I love how you start with the enigma at the top, that's masterful, showing the contradictions of the human psyche. I love the images, the grandeur, the metaphor of the dancefloor of life. The characterisation is superb. I adore the line "the word of god/is written with bullet holes," an exquisite poem.

[Chris Smith Welshpoetcs]

Great poem my friend.