Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Home
About
My Book
Archives
More
- Theology
- Culture
- Politics
- Sermons
- Bible
- Devotions
- Daily Office
- Podcast

Home
Progressive Christian
Star-Spangled Virus (A Poem About America)

Star-Spangled Virus (A Poem About America)

Last updated on: June 1, 2020 at 12:51 am by Morgan Guyton

Star-Spangled Virus (A Poem About America) 2020-06-01T00:51:10-05:00 Morgan Guyton

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

America, when will you stop
Punching yourself in the face?
Are we really going to do
Fight Club now?

Will the racists really get
Away with scapegoating,
Sabotage, and posing
As their enemies in order

To discredit them?
Why is all this a surprise?
We built a nation around
Two idols — a red white

And blue war banner
And Caesar’s coin that
Declares in God we trust.
Which God? The generic

One who has no tradition
Other than Enlightenment
Reason, who secretly looks
More like Zeus than

Jesus? We pillaged and
Mongrelized and pretended
Like we had the one pure
Faith though Ra and Osiris

And Marduk and Mars
All remain in our pantheon.
How can anyone claim
That any church in this

Country worships a teenage
Lamb who was slaughtered
By white cops when we raise
Our war banner in every

Sanctuary — the word that’s
Supposed to mean a place
Of peace; we want the
God of war that we sing to

At every ballgame; we don’t
Worship a bleeding, suffocating
Man on a cross except when
He serves as the whiteout

That lets us keep bombing
Nations into democracy
And getting our hand stamped
For Disneyland in the sky.

Do we trust anything other
Than money and bombs?
How can we love our
Neighbors when we can’t

Even clean our houses
Since we curate fake
Lives onto screens;
We would rather create

Avatars in virtual reality
Than share vegetables
With our neighbors;
And now we have an

Excuse to be more
Alone because science
Is always right. Even
Though the indigenous

Know the whole earth
Is sick because
We have raped the land,
We still think science

Is the only answer so
We whip ourselves into
Hysteria with our charts
And graphs that explain

Everything with confidence
Like every child of Lucifer
Drunk on the fruit of knowledge
That has become an entire

Empire of correctness that
Slashed and burned rain
Forests in order to create
Little white pills that will

Solve everything; how can
We survive a pandemic when
We have forgotten how
To breath and how to

Dance and how to build
Fires and how to talk
To spirits and how to hit
Drums and how to ask

Our ancestors for guidance.
Until we rip out the weed rugs
Of our social stability and
Build prayer labyrinths with

Flowers that attract the right
Kinds of insects, until we stop
Buying food in plastic, we
Will continue to live out the

Neurosis that is suffocating
Our entire planet but
Pachamama will work out
The knots in her body one

Way or another; if we are
Not aligned with her beauty,
Then we will be cast into
The fire and made into

Compost for the new earth
She is creating right now;
Many will die because of
The arrogance of centuries

Of conquistadors who
Blasphemed Jesus’ cross
Perfectly, wielding it as
A sword saying convert or die.

Until the ancient languages
Are restored, until new
Traditions are discovered,
We will keep asphyxiating

Ourselves into the rage,
Fear, and isolation that
Is our virus. And yet the
Father says behold I am

Doing a new thing; we’ll
Call it the year of the
Grandmother; if all
The white men firing tear

Gas into grieving crowds
Would put down their badges
And sit at the feet of the elders
Whose land we stole,

Then we would receive
The wisdom we need and
Perhaps the virus would
Evaporate like the assumption

That people who are alienated
From their ancestors can live
By reason alone, which is the fruit
The serpent handed us to eat.

Poetry

Previous Post

May 31, 2020

Bloom: Prophetic Poetry for Pentecost

Next Post

June 1, 2020 Dehumanization Is The Real Enemy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Beauty Will Save the World Bible Big Picture: Ephesians Bloggers Book Christian salvation and the Beautitudes Culture Daily Office Danceable Homiletics Deadly Sins Deep Roots: Genesis Devotions Dominican Republic May 2011 El Principio Misericordia (The Mercy Principle) Five verses God tattooed on my heart Fundraising FutureGospel Good Biblical Words Henri Nouwen Interview Jennings' Christian Imagination Jesus inside the beltway Jesus Is My Candidate Jesus vs the Pharisees Jesus vs. Plato Journey to Eternity Looking Back on 2012 Love Actually Monday Merton Monday Merton Music Occupy the manger On Earth As It Is In Heaven Original Sin Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Psalm 119 Radical Jesus 101 Reviews Sermon on the Mount Sermons Spanish Bible study Special Series Spiritual but not religious Synchroblog Theology Things that made me think Thomas a Kempis Ugliness Into Beauty Uncategorized Viaje Dominicano 2013 Walking in the Valley (Lent) Welcome: It's More than a Mat Wild Goose 2013 Wrestling

Select a Month March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 September 2021 April 2021 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the name "Jesus" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Prince of peace Teacher The Lord saves God is with us