in mass, a pastor calls for mercy
toward the huddled masses,
only to be met with the wrath
of secular titans
who equate amassed wealth
to divine ascension.
clusters of the downtrodden
writhe beneath their feet—
to lift them up would only serve
to destabilize the fool’s gold path,
so why, in a false god’s name,
would they deign
to remove the spikes
from the soles of their boots?
“blasphemy!”, they cry as one.
“behold our great nation’s moral decline!”
then turn to stand at the altar of greed
and glut on offerings from devotees:
death threats for the heretic reverend,
profits from their snake oil goods;
wails of families torn apart,
blood of the common man underfoot.