Sam’s Poems
Sam’s Poems
The Spirit of the Age
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The Spirit of the Age

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Elijah or Elias the prophet - Jose of Ribera (1591-1652)
The Spirit of the Age

(1 Kings 22)

The humans didn’t channel the spirits,
the spirits channeled them.
How many did it take?
One angel for a dozen humans,
the more education, the easier,
our finest religious-types,
the Spirit of Consensus,
with his hot flapping wings,
blows our prophets/profits into frenzy:
podcasters, pastors, poets, politicians.
They crank the word machine handle harder
to tell the same story,
but weirder,
eventually, blood will have to be spilled
to make up for content.

A true prophet rarely comes along,
but when she does,
she is usually by herself,
mid-period,
off being useless,
or gratuitous.
When summonsed, 
she prophesies with sarcasm or sin,
there’s a dust cloud in tow
and a quorum of sweating faces, men.
Her message wounds and opens-up wounds,
until she is stoned to death.
The woman caught in the act of adultery
was a true prophet,
who spoke with abated breath.

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