such genuflections are required
to appease a darker god than you
can invoke with millennia of prayer:
the bent neck and obsequious
mutters— a mere charade of ritual
to reinforce submission’s place
more than attain some god’s grace
so eat your bread and drink your wine
tell yourself again and again
your life has no consequence
except in questionable service
to a promissory pact in the end
you will be free to be as god
dissolved into non-existence
(December 31, 2015)
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