God Play

I was not there

when the world cracked

and bled searing hot orange

into the sky

cutting out the lights

and the breath

of so many innocents

leaving behind shadows

and scars on the world.

How godlike we pretend to be,

passing judgements,

acting in divine cruelty

we sanctify in the baptismal waters

of old narratives - 'good vs. evil',

drowning the world with

40 days of fire,

and yet we promise no rainbow

unless it is signed in blood,

sealed with obedience.

Is that where peace lies?

there, under the rubble

amid the pillars of radiating ash

where only ghosts shed tears

and beg for mercy that died

along with them.

And that was the minimum price,

seventy thousand names,

extinguished in a breath...

I fear these gods-of-men

will never be

satisfied.