“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee? And the King will answer them—”
—The Bible (Matthew 25: 31-40a.) Revised Standard Version, the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 1971.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done. They poison—mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America. Not just the three or four countries that we think about. But all over the world they’re coming into our country—from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They’re pouring into our country.”
—Donald Trump. New Hampshire campaign rally, December 16th, 2023.
“Have mercy on me, Lord, I have done wrong. A crystal piano plays dreadful in my spleen. A hatred and a desolator’s song, here and there and each part in between. I have eaten the children and rained fire upon the old, dashed the newborn dead upon the rocks, plagued the cities, thrown families to the cold, and turned backward all the advancing clocks. I am the mist-maker moving through the throng, a cloud of carnage everywhere I roam. Crystal piano plays the desolator’s song. Have mercy on me, Lord, and bring me home.”
—Nick Cave. “Have Mercy On Me,” Seven Psalms, Goliath Enterprises Ltd., 2022.
These are the types of juxtapositions that birth poems in me, Paul. Maybe you’re a closet poet!