12-14-2012, 01:23 PM
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
As a child I wanted to be a warrior for Jesus.
My church gave us pamphlets on the covers of which
a boy and girl, each smiling, crossed swords,
light emerging from their tips
like that which dawned on Eden once.
But I looked at those swords and my veil of love
was stirred by darker thoughts.
"What were swords designed to do?"
Relieve men of their guts.
"What does a warrior preach?"
Submission by the blade,
violence, hatred and death,
young men slaughtered at the Somme.
With Jesus' heart I'd stride through the desert
murdering pagans and Jews, the light of Eden in my sword.
I said it was just a metaphor, but symbols are passionless.
I couldn't feel the Holy Ghost moving in me;
my young heart was queer, my temple empty.
As a child I wanted to be a warrior for Jesus.
My church gave us pamphlets on the covers of which
a boy and girl, each smiling, crossed swords,
light emerging from their tips
like that which dawned on Eden once.
But I looked at those swords and my veil of love
was stirred by darker thoughts.
"What were swords designed to do?"
Relieve men of their guts.
"What does a warrior preach?"
Submission by the blade,
violence, hatred and death,
young men slaughtered at the Somme.
With Jesus' heart I'd stride through the desert
murdering pagans and Jews, the light of Eden in my sword.
I said it was just a metaphor, but symbols are passionless.
I couldn't feel the Holy Ghost moving in me;
my young heart was queer, my temple empty.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe