Pale blue leisure suit
White dress white shoes
Polyester beige and brown houndstooth
Platform shoes
The preacher’s suit
Is jet black
To best offset his diamond pinky-ring
An accusing eye
Which exposes our envy and our greed

We will go forth at altar call
Our weekly repentance
From our lives of dissipation and excess
Our idle amusements bible study talk and talk
Eat cake drink milk talk more
We’re overcome and Spirit filled
The secret language God’s converse
From our sinner’s lips is spilled
“see my tie”
The sisters praise
Loud Hallelujahs with arms upraised
“a ree bo bo”
We stammer so
Little babes with clumsy tongues
We stutter and we hum

All the elders raise their hands
To thank their dogma and their god
Their replication of generations
Of stand up sit down
Jericho marchin’ the chapel round
To trap our evil lusty demons
‘Til the walls crumble
In our jabberin’ jumble of noise

Who can stand
As He did stand?
Why, none of us can
But it’s OK now, how can we be?
Tall as strong as divine as He?
Not one
No matter
Just speak and bleat
And keep up the patter
To be exempt

Even donkeys, dumb asses
With braying mouths
Have uttered sounds which qualified
As God talkin’ to Himself

“see my tie
A repo bo
A repo see my tie”

Oh, my

– MH Clay © 2008