A BELFAST BOY

Religion for old maids, widows

and soon-to-be-widows,

nods from approving churchmen

of middling rank. A pillar

of learning and Christian faith.

Preaching to children

in guise of fantasy;

more escape from reality.

The same message on Mars

as in Venus or Narnia or England:

This is not all that there is,

this wasted life of the old,

the dreams of the young

going down the gutter

of broken-backed Albion,

this is not all that there is.

But alas, it was.

Inside the holy books,

a void more empty

than the space between

the wandering stars. Beyond

the mortal coil,

no reward,

only punishment

of utter annihilation. The

meek inherit not the Heaven,

but share the destruction

of those who lived
ruthless and true lives

and those who

pretended they lived,

like Clive.

11.02.2018