Milton

Milton’s Satan would rather
Reign in hell
Than serve
In heaven.
I imagine Jesus as a long-haired
Peace loving type
And God as silent
And unmoving.
How many years of prayers
Have fallen on his white ears?
How many sacrifices
Laid at his feet?
Better that he is not real.
That he has no ears to hear us.
In the world that they claim
He created in seven days
He didn’t think to create
A safe space for us.
And yet I am to believe in him
Though I have not yet seen
His promised land
And I am to forgive them
Even as they kill my mother
And my brother.
I wonder that they do not hate us
Because he hates us most of all.
I hope he is not real.

But just in case…
I will take my chances
With Milton’s Satan
And lift my head
And reign in hell.