I. I do not like the name of Jesus
the banner of closed-hearted
fear-filled, gay-bashing,
homogenizing, culture-killing
small-minded, Koran-burning
earth-raping, white privileged
politicianed, women-hating
superficial, two-faced, cold-stoned
materialistic, chauvinistic
power-hungry, blind-eyed,
out-of-sync, double-standard
who-has-the-holiest-asshole –

II. Jesus says:
please don’t judge me
by my followers.

III. the Light is there, in that room
along with the fiery left and the icy right
– or maybe it’s the fiery right and the icy left –
seizing, groping, swearing, trampling, all
surrounded by the throng of the
tepid middle.
I watch them;
I do not belong, I say, and
I pick up the Creation and the Mystery
and leave.

© Meisaan Chan