To Reverend Walker, heaven was a bank
where those in the best suits were the best served,
and the calculus of what a man deserved
contained a factor for his blood and rank.
Oh, one could store up jewels above, no doubt.
Soup lines were good for that; donations too.
But that was interest--compound blessings due
on grace the Lord already'd parceled out.
It was simple economics: who had the most,
deserved it. Who had least were therefore vile
and justly cursed by God. Why walk a mile
in torn-up shoes, when Heaven was so close?
The Reverend's congregation all averred,
and bought Hummers to spread the gospel word.
1 comment:
Another Petrarchan, this one with a fine edge. I love to see the whispering blade of elegant meter used on these hypocrites. As a lover of metrical wild life, I was particularly pleased to recognize the pyhrric-spondee in the second and third feet of line two. Greatly enjoyed the Hummers, the bringing in of the contemporary to the wonderful old form.
I might say, "So . . . averred," in the penultimate line. More in keeping with the meaning of the word (averred is transitive).
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