Wade Seego Believes Soylent Green Is People

Down here we say we dare defend our rights,
our state motto. I’d back Charlton Heston
for any office in the land. A Christian,
he speaks right up. He’s got his head on straight,
and people listen. Even on the screen
of a honky-tonk TV he still looks
like a hero, and he wouldn’t let freaks
take over our country. If it takes firepower
to keep us free, I say stock up. Keep your
powder dry. Everything is dangerous
these days. Life sucks. We suck too. Disaster
is coming. Even God’s gone spleenish. Bless
the common man against the government.
They lie. They grind us up. Winchesters
might be our last resort. Hellfire preachers
say we best prepare for a dark event,
but maybe Charlie Heston could keep death
off our backs and tone down Jehovah’s wrath.
Sweet Jesus—and this is the gospel truth—
is pissed off at our newfangled unfaith.
He’s coming back, and he’s armed to the teeth.

Copyright Credit: R. T. Smith, “Wade Seego Believes Soylent Green Is People” from The Hollow Log Lounge. Copyright © 2003 by R. T. Smith. Used with the permission of the poet and the University of Illinois Press.
Source: The Hollow Log Lounge (2003)