A Psalm on the Last Judgment
The Fool says in his heart:
there is no God.
And whatever a fool says in his heart
gets the front page of the Times or the Post.
That’s the news.
The Fool says in his heart:
no one will ever know.
And every day another sleazy American hero
finds out what a tabloid says to that.
That’s privacy for you.
It would’ve been so much smarter
to keep your thoughts to yourself
and leave Him out of it.
No way He won’t show up now,
when He knows you got nothing.
You think He’s as dumb as He looks?
Living in a world of mirrors and strobes and photo-shop
makes you blind to looks
and everybody knows you don’t know dumb.
You sparked His nerve,
His scandalous love of risk,
His equally notorious lack of respect for propriety.
He’ll open your door so quick
you won’t have time to step aside,
and where will your bloody plans be then?
What will you say when He shows up,
and asks you those same dumb questions you like to ask,
like: what’s happening, man?
or: do you feel lucky, punk?
or: did I create you this stupid or did you have to study?
He’ll take your cue and hand it all back,
inane line for inane line.
The microphones are on.
The cameras are rolling.
You better come up with a good one-liner.
This is your three minutes as the sound bite, Fool,
and everybody’s listening.
What does your heart say now?
We’re waiting.
Tags: atheism, Christian, cynicism, judgment, poetry, the world, unbelief
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Caleb's Eye 
March 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm
The sadist says in his heart: you deserve to be tortured for eternity because you believe something different than I do.
March 10, 2011 at 3:56 pm
No disagreement there. I personally reject the entire idea of hell as it is usually presented. The idea of judgment is something completely different, however. Though judgment and hell are usually associated in people’s minds, I think they are truly distinct ideas. If the issue is of interest to you, I would be interested in your opinions of my essay on the subject, which you can find at the bottom of my home page under doctrinal essays. In any case, thanks for the visit and the comment.
March 10, 2011 at 9:59 pm
This is great and it seems a departure from your usual style. I really like it a lot – I am copying it to share with Doug and Beth
March 11, 2011 at 1:11 am
You’re right. I prefer irony to sarcasm, but every once in a while the darker side of my personality comes through. I will no doubt be back to normal next time. Thank you for your comment.