("Therefore, O king, let me counsel you to break off your sins by practicing justice and showing pity to the oppressed; perhaps your prosperity may be prolonged." Daniel 4:27)

"Hard as Cold"

the solvent sound like they earn the right to dance on
the broken, no debt to the debtors with credit created
by boats of wealth and fingers covered with colored gold

sins pile up in the storerooms and lockboxes,
in deposits safely tucked behind clashandsteel
yardwide doors,
silver rafters bear the load of ancestral wills and testaments,
legacies ilustrious

and hard as cold

sold
a soul fashioned to weep, instead he covers
his death with layers of gold
and climbs the foothills to higher graveside views
till unspent and insolvent he gives away
what is left

and animal-

-like he bears no resemblance to master nor miser

as his riches clutter up history's halls

wanting to see the church reach out to the oppressed,
mark p.
lamppoet@minot.com