Mikey Speaks

Yes, I was just a backbencher
From a state known for swamp gas
And gators, and then the Lord
Raised me up to lead
Citizens born of darkness
Out of their bondage to an age
That believes secular means something
Besides the devil is on the prowl.

Grace has enlightened me—you, well, no.
You are by nature depraved,
Dancing in the darkness of your lost souls.
If you want to know what I think,
Pick up a Bible and thump your head with it.
Everything I know and need to know is there
Waiting for an alleluia to come out smiling
At the heretics and sinners of our shared polity.

Not every country boy is God’s instrument.
I listen only to his holy word and to the prophet
Who’s going to set us back on the right road
As the founders intended, those pious men
Who knew that they and their slaves
Were building a city on a hill, where even
Three-fifths of a person counted as something.
I’m a constitutional scholar and know such things.

Give up your pretension to rights
Not biblically based. Dissent, say what?
Civil disobedience, only when authorized
By saints devoted to chapter and verse.
Do not flee from God’s grace
Lest wrath swallow you whole.
We all know that women have their sacred place
Beneath the man whose dreams they share.

Divinely founded, our country can do no wrong.
Nor can I, humble instrument of the divine.
The supreme law says clearly
It’s God’s way or the highway.
Soon you will be ruled by the saints
If not already. Prepare for grace
To heal your hearts from the idol of the self.
A Higher Power speaks through me, as you can tell.

John Jiambalvo is the author of two collections of poetry, Shadows Walking Among Questions and Americana Collection, as well as a satiric novel, Smirk. Read other articles by John.