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Worship

by Betania Tesch

There are ugly things
in need of worship
and pretty things
in need of hate.
We've got to keep up
the ambiguity of opinion
for clarity's sake.
We're singing in exaltation
of things we've never touched
because there's a chorus line
running through our newspapers
humming that old familiar song
we call right and wrong.
We are being told what to think again
in the name of individualism
stirred into our drinks
like a date rape drug
by a man who is a slave to his followers.
He is pointing out shiny packages,
telling us which is holy,
writing our Bible
in the supermarket aisles
so that we remember to bow down
to the proper advertising campaign
and we are all special fools.

11/04/2001

Posted on 11/04/2001
Copyright © 2025 Betania Tesch

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Richard Paez on 12/09/02 at 07:19 PM

Beth! Wow! Awesome! God, this reminds me so much of Tool's Eulogy (which, coming from me, is a compliment and a half!)... Every line in this is perfectly crafted, Beth. There isn't a single word out of place, not a single image that shouldn't be here, not a single one that isn't yet should. If every poem I wrote was as well controlled, as specifically tuned, as self contained yet oh, so universal, I'd bathe in butter every day. Thank you for sharing this!

Posted by Jeanne Marie Hoffman on 07/12/03 at 06:57 AM

The language you use makes this poem very powerful

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