sweet lord

_does jesus have a trinitron
to watch the network news?
like god’s own sweeping gaze
nosing into every corner?
i can buy a tv too,
sweet lord,
& see what you see
with your omnipresent brain.

i see bloated-belly babies
with dark hollow eyes,
mothers eaten numb by hunger
batting away clumsy flies.

i see strong young men
clubbed down by grim police
under the hot sun of johannesburg
in the name of civil peace.

the world is cruel,
too cruel to be by chance.
the world is cruel:
i believe in god.

such a wise and knowing father,
there’s no fear you’ll spare the rod.
you test our faith each day
to cull the weak of will.
i can buy a handgun too,
sweet lord,
& cut down innocents
as surely as your righteous wrath.
_ that three-year-old who died,
beaten by her mother’s new boyfriend,
were you testing her faith?
did she pass in the end?

and those school children in beirut
whose lessons ended in electric red
as a carbomb minced them at their desks,
did you note how well they bled?

(the lord our god
an angry god,
a jealous god…
he’ll cut --
he’ll cut you down)

the world is cruel.

do you have a grand design
for everyone i see?
i watch the patterns,
i study carefully.
my mind is clearer now,
sweet lord,
your power’s plain to see.
was marquis de sade your prophet?

i see seven holy angels
on seven holy thrones
drinking baby blood from seven mugs
and sucking out the bones.

_i see the father and the son,
sweet mary and the holy ghost
placing wagers on their supplicants,
on who can bleed the most.

daily we suffer,
by design not accident.
we suffer for your pleasure;
i believe in god.
_

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