And what of God? by Sally

And what of god

Your childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

When the tested much-tried

Remedy, the self-help guide

With careful steps

Or packet mix repellent

But weight-loss guaranteed

And fast

The serious exercise regime

Rowing for your life

Breathe in, stay calm

Repeat this mantra daily

Above all keep the faith

Another bottle, glass of red?

Or mindless televisual

Crap, always a store

Saved, to be replayed

Numbing, hypnotic

Charm of babble and of noise

Prattle, a tale told

Neatly, sweetly

Organised to soothe

Imbibe ingest the drug

Of fiction and escape

Marian Keyes I

Swallow you, devour you

Or is that in reverse

Me, lost gone obliterated

In the pages and the verse?

And what of god

Your childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

When all and none

Of the above

Will do the trick

Still the rats who gnaw

And bite, not pretty sight

Gruesome, reeking havoc

Then do you yearn

For mum and dad

For black and white TV

Before the F word everywhere

For good behaviour sure

To be rewarded

And are you tempted to your knees

Arthritic now and painful

To call upon him

Childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

Where is my voice?

I’ve heard the angry woman cry,
“Where is my voice in this Book of yours?”
She wants to know why her concerns,
her sorrows and her joys
and her pain at male injustices
are not privileged
in sacred script.

But hush, dear sister mine and hear.
When you were small,
did I not say,
“All bullies are cowards –
and they lie”?
The book itself bears witness to their fear.

For, cowards still,
they dared not cover all the truth
when writing for their god
and so they told the truth
in hazy outlines
making excuses
as bullies always do,
but
believe me, it’s there for all to see.

Try reading as a human being,
bringing all you know,
from life,
profession,
friendship,
scholarship
and, dare I say, the Holy Spirit’s prompting,
and then say what you see.

To me it says,
“He did abuse her! She spoke the truth.”
It says,
“He did murder my children!”
So all those unheard, disbelieved
victims in our very own
godless patriarchy
are given a voice that clearly says,
“She doesn’t lie!”
and
“For pity’s sake listen, listen, listen to your children!”

And didn’t you know
the last and worst injustice
is not to be believed?

Clear as Stars by Sally

Clear as Stars

You write

So poignantly

Clear as stars

Bright message

From eternity

Of love, life blood

Pulsing, of

Fire in the veins

A perfect pairing

Two halves made whole

Dire separation’s purest pain

Your taste forbidden fruit fantastical

Of heaven and of hell

You paint a passion

Sharp as steel

Stiletto slicing skin

Bleeding crimson

Drop by drop

Each other’s drug and need

Completion

Clear as stars

Bright message

From eternity

Of love

6th November 2009, Brighton, for J with love