Sliced wide, hemorrhaging

ideals, hard-won beliefs arterial

flow against unforgiving earth.

Christianity.

Bible Belt powerbrokers mine

The New Testament For Dummies,

manufacture wisdom devoid of The Bright

Morning Star, as if Christ would deem man

kissing man greater

sin than brother butchering brother.

Charity.

            Wall Street virtuosos feed high

            blood pressure with tax cut slop,

            woo corporate gurus with five star Big Macs

and preach to Apprentice devotees

            their own brand of Golden Rule:

            To Share Is Foolish, To Hoard Divine.

Equality.

            Op-ed regulars cough up

a phlegm of vitriol, decry

bilingual ballots, a minimum

wage increase that won’t quite feed

a family and a woman’s right to navigate

the center of her personal universe.

Liberty.

            The anointed one awaits his own

            second coming, and as the wait

            may well be long, amuses

            himself with games—Global Dominoes,

            How Fast Can You Melt An Iceberg

            and Trivial Pursuit of Terrorism.

Bled out, despite the lingering

notion that karma plays no favorites,