CNN World News: Darfur

CNN World News: Darfur

by Bill Britton

Above an arc of black coffee,
ebony figures,
gnarled and wrapped
in dusty parchment,
lean across the screen,
their eyes charred by hunger,
their nurslings adrift
in a wasteland of withered breasts,
their bodies bent by indifferent winds
that swirl over umbered landscapes
and scourge this kindling of races
raked into barren corners
and lost in the gaze of camera lenses.

Shunning Salvation

Shunning Salvation

by Bill Britton

In Abram's streets and alleyways
his sons preach conflagration,
as mothers of these selfsame sons
shout cheers of adoration.

Flocks of faithful line a square
in rabid admiration,
drawn by the lure of papal love
and papal accusation.

Radios in Southern towns
eruct their allocation
of Bible lore and cures for souls
through cash remuneration.

Mosque, synagogue, and church demand
unwavering affirmation
of tales and lessons clerics mold
to suit a congregation.

Their ills of mind and mortal flesh
are rendered adulation
apropos of God's mysteries
and willful approbation.

Suffer the little children, He says,
and suffer the humiliation
of original sin's ancient decrees
and eternal castigation.

Believers shun those who sense
the twisted conjuration
of gods who martyr innocents
while granting dispensation.

Still, the Godhead myth persists unchecked
by thoughtful contemplation,
and like a virus lingers on
in every generation.