Messiah



I was born into a worldly house with a ma and pops
Likely how you were, and how the next guy was,
But from an early age, about 10 years tops—
There was this sense I had, sorta secret-ops

One day when I was a 13 year old “thunderblood”
See, it was this game we’d play in the woods
I had to walk the plank, I was the “blunderthud”  
I hit my head, blacked out, down deep in undermud

When I came to, my friends were gone
Bloody, muddy: I was half-kid, half-woods
I was having visions in the early dawn
Mental visions, by God’s hand drawn

HE told me “now be ye townscrier”
To stand myself up, and hurry,
To warn town, ‘now this will transpire’
He told me, “tell ye of floods, tell ye of fire”

My friends didn’t believe one word
The townspeople cried “He’s raving mad!”
The visions came in verses slurred
My eyes rolled back, people stirred

They yelled “he’s a lying sonofabitch, y’all”
Though Mom and pops didn’t seem so sure
But yet they went along with the thrall
Chasing me up the steps of town hall

I was seizing, weeping, and calling to the Lord
Blabbering “No, I ain’t mad, I swear it, I speak truth!”
Wielding a “FOR SALE” sign pike as my misericorde
They screamed, “git ’im on to yon psych-ward!”

That was the minute that it all went to hell
Flood: Water was rushing past us down Main
Fire: Pipes’d burst, my body aflame, town hall fell
They all mouthed “messiah” now at my burnt-out shell.

About this poem

This poem, written in 2022, was composed at the request of a novelist friend of the poet as a jumping-off point for a novel on a similar subject. It explores the formative beginnings of self-proclaimed prophets and the circumstances of their influence in society.

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Written on January 17, 2022

Submitted by alexs.25843 on February 18, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:23 min read
45

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAA BCBB DCDD EEEE BBBB FEFF BXBB FXFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,468
Words 279
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Ben Qenny

Ben Qenny is an American-Levantine poet and novelist whose works include The Moonlit Notebook, "Imitating Jupiter's Curve", and "Soldier of the State, Defend!" more…

All Ben Qenny poems | Ben Qenny Books

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    "Messiah" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/121944/messiah>.

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