Three Pews Long

Can a person be preached to death?
My burned-out ears answer "yes."
Some church speakers use every breath
To berate those they suppose they bless.

They describe "don'ts" three pews long.
Congregants find it all but unfeasible
To live without doing something wrong.
Shouldn't preachers aim to be reasonable?

Three hours, four hours—they preach on.
Old men are nodding off, children crying.
Isn't it time for the choir to sing a song?
This must be worse than hell and dying.

The stained-glass windows are darkening.
The preachers have preached too long.
But to the late hour they aren't harkening—
And they're prepared to carry on 'til dawn.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2014

Poem

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Mcdaid Avatar
November 5, 2014 at 7:01 PM
a delightfully beautiful pen paul
Schneiter Avatar
November 5, 2014 at 7:47 PM
Thank you, Liam. Your kind words mean a lot to me; in fact, I relish them.
Helppi Avatar
October 30, 2014 at 9:18 PM
He he he very darkly funny!
Schneiter Avatar
October 30, 2014 at 10:00 PM
Dan, thanks for catching my hyperbole. I didn't mean to convey any ill will toward the good men/women of the cloth.
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