Our Downfall

Religion is

more powerful

than your government’s

atomic bombs.

Mamas and papas

drag their kids

behind them

down the rows

of pews worn by

years of futile prayers.

Hymns infiltrate

the tombs

of the slain—

those who died

for those same

echoing verses

reverberating through

rotting coffins.

Religion severs

your brothers

and your sisters

from their own kind;

forming the wedge

that is instrumental

in splitting the wood

grown from the ground up.

Religion marches

over your human rights

with the pages of ink

wasted for their web

of lies disguised

as the truth.

Let me hear

your faith cry

over the sound

of your own

self-righteousness.