Church and Destroy
(Of Pus and Possibility)

Larry Piltz

A trained wolf leads
a blameless flock of sheep
into a glade cloister
of crushed hoof floor
and ripped-wool walls
that cushion the headlong
attempts at escape
and absorb the wailing
for a true savior
whose very absence
cultivates a growing
culture of dependence
and nurtures obedience

Wishing for joy
they worship the boy
the prized decoy
of the church and destroy

The culture of dependence
begins at the very top
and flows down like starch
into the body of that wound
which opens at birth
and needs to ooze freely
to make the body pure
but instead stiffens and scars
and dams the confluence
of pus and possibility
cementing the conformity
of sheep and wolf alike

Dreaming of joy
they whitewash the boy
their god and their ploy
wood horse and their Troy
the holy boy toy
of the wolf-sheep hoi polloi
of the church and destroy