I was driving a station wagon, Dad on my right
Mom, young kids, and dog in back seat
Construction ahead, a warning light
In my mind I keep the scene on repeat
I saw the truck in my rearview mirror
It was going fast, I was going slow
I couldn't accelerate as it got nearer
It climbed on our wagon, in Idaho.
It forced the rear of the car into asphalt
The rear doors sealed, but the dog did a vault
Mom lifted the kids over, seared her skin
Moved sideways and a flame shot up where she'd been.
We all made it out, and Mormons took us in
Kids made Mormon friends, and we regrouped
Took an airplane the rest of the way to the coast
Not a story of which I can boast.
Dad's summer teaching had to cover the cost
But we won something, not just lost
We found strength and friendship where we didn't expect
From people whose kindness I'll never forget.
Now every flashing warning light
Takes me back to that July.
A rearview mirror, one long breath,
The line between life and death.
Besides the Mormons, I also thank fate
Death has to come, but death had to wait.
For they know not what they are doing
How could they not
as God-given capacity for ignorance
is only blasphemy when available
The Indigenous of New Zealand
Never heard Jesus's sweet name
until 1814, So all those natives
get to burn forever with Hauty
The proud church of Christ
and its east-west schisms
And Luther's nailed paper
Show God's "unauthorized" confusion
Mormons and Muslims follow
in the writing of many books
and their books on their books
and their books on their books and
Mormons converged on Great Salt Lake
To consecrate their Lord's mistake
But found they could float
As well as a boat
Though prayers looked more like patty-cake
In Utah, it gets downright chilly
So people are prone to act silly
The Mormons will faint
If you ain't a Saint
They don't have what God gave to Tilli? *
*Tilli Buchanan was arrested and charged
with child abuse for removing her T-shirt inside
her own home whilst helping her husband shift
drywall.
Ted was a proper torturer
he'd gag me after tea
he'd ram a flannel down my gob
then dangle me on his knee
A virgin when I married
my mums and dad were Mormons
home-schoolers don't do sex Ed. much
though they did go on about hormones
I thought Ted's ways were normal
it was all new ground to me
my terrified eyes would turn him on
so I didn't have the heart to flee
I got used to the violent jerking
I got used to a gob full of flannel
but I wished I'd prayed and made a fuss
when he hid me behind his panel.
S O F
A little Bluer
Tales of the great
folklore and the gypsies
pirates all around the state
traveling the seas getting tipsy
mythical witches and their brews
hellish demons and angels too
This world you will have trouble
elves and trolls...wait, I'm not through
fairy's and pixie dust
hookers, temptresses with lust
humbled yogis, monks and shamans
Buddhists, Jehovah's, Amish and Mormons
temples, God's, and holy cows
cheating couples with broken vows
thieves, killers, gamblers and drunks
California with all the babes and hunks
Insecure actors, and glutton hillbillies
**** stars giving old men wet willies
boxers, wrestlers, and samurai
watch out? You might just lose an eye
Wizards, and snake tamers
magic card nerds and all the gamer's
whatever you choose, nothing truer
you just might make the world a little blue
Not Iowa---Idaho
Not Ohio---I-DA-HO
That's a very old joke, you know,
and it's still not funny.
No, I hate skiing
And mountain biking
No, not corn. Potatoes
And Mormons
Yes, it really IS a state. Look it up.
What's there?
Endless desert
What's there?
Nothing
Nothing but me.
Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet
Pointed to the west; they crossed it
North, east, south, west sent colonies,
And has his name on universities.
Brigham Young, who led the Mormons after the assassination of their founding prophet Joseph Smith, led the Mormon Pioneers from "Winter Quarters" (a spot near what is now Omaha Nebraska) to what is now Salt lake City, Utah, then established colonies in most of the western states, south-western Canada, and northern Mexico. Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, is the largest religious, and one of the largest private, universities in the USA, and has branches in Hawaii and Idaho. There is a monument in Washington DC to B.Y. for him being the great colonizer. Most groups that went west did so seeking gold or land, but didn't worry about those who followed. When the Mormons crossed, they widened mountain gaps, made maps, planted seeds, set up river crossings etc to make it easier for later groups to follow.
80's oldsmobile wagon full of mormons
traveling at five under the speed limit.
a turtlenecked jesus behind the wheel
draws magnetically all pyrite from the
rural hills of zion utah.
gold so much glorious gold
and you can have it to.
just turn your tv dial to the trinity
broadcasting network,
set some plastic fruit out on your
coffee table as an offering
and send your prayer request
in to Plano Texas.
Broremann’s war
Spring, 1945, German troops in his town were walking about not
carrying arms, they spoke to the locals in a friendly manner.
Looking back it was peace before the peace. Near Broremann's home
there was a tall house occupied by old non- commissioned officers,
middle-aged men in their thirties with children, gave the kids
chocolate and sweets (after the war the building was taken over by
Mormons).
British troops arrived, put a canteen in a disused fish factory,
the German troops had surrendered. Broremann got white bread
with spam from the British. The Germans left by train; many
of the town´s people came to wave goodbye, there was no
dislike against the common soldiers, wrath was directed at the
local Gestapo who had betrayed their country by being crueler
than the enemy and by sporting rimless Himmler glasses.
Years later Broremann met a docker in Hamburg who had spent
five war years in his town. They drank together and declared
it had been a peaceful war.
Pine filtered air roams down hillsides.
Space in the western Rockies stretches comprehension.
Farms and towns in the valleys have room to spare.
Polite Mormons and crude drunks harmonize.
Rewards wait for the adventurer.
Cutthroat trout sip insects from stream tops.
Wandering moose snack on willows.
I have found a permanent paradise.
Let the lowlanders inhale the smog,
frantically rush into knotted traffic.
I was once part of this senseless game.
The caffeine fuelled dash to nowhere.
Keep your artificial palm trees.
Ogle those silicone breasts.
You'll look fashionable in your decadent urban scene.
Drowning your sorrows in expensive wine.
Allow me to laugh at your folly,
as I peacefully shine my shotgun.
The frigid breeze will soon turn to warmth.
I have found my mountain home.
Alone I sit in my granite palace.
Deserted by the coin chasing masses.
Distained by a woman who once loved me.
Tranquility infusing the crisp alpine air.
Wayne M Hill September 30, 2011
when
scientology has
deemed you an
enemy for being
antisocial, for
being a POTENTIAL
TROUBLE
SOURCE (PTS), for
getting in the way
of the
BRIDGE TO TOTAL
FREEDOM for
others---you are now
a suppressive person (SP),
you bring the whole
bloody cult down, don’t
ya know you got to
stop making all those
that drop their gold coins
in the coffer feel like they
have wasted their lives &
money on something just
as fictional & ridiculous
as moses, christ or
muhammad, but you have
shelled out some major dough
to do so---a committee of
evidence has a file on you &
they are going to bring you
before the High Court! you
will be forbidden to have
any contact with those
designated SP’s if you are
not found to be one yourself &
you will be followed & you
will wading in the dung of the
jehovah’s witness whose been
dis-fellowshipped, you will be
withering in the dark with
the excommunicated mormons,
you will be cast out like the
proverbial leper & you will be
alone with no one that you
once knew by your side---but,
you will be free to breathe a
rational breath once again.
At the joyful sunrise service on Easter morn
On the sands of Daytona Beach no lines are drawn
Worshipers from each Christian denomination
Gather in unison as one congregation
Protestants, Mormons and Catholics in pre-dawn haze
Chorus of voices offering hymns of great praise
As the sun rises here, just as God’s son rose then
For a moment in time, many faiths are brethren
When the first rays of light streak across the ocean
‘Neath glowing pink light, we celebrate Christ risen
Surely God smiles down as all believers embrace,
Celebrate the Resurrection, bask in His grace
Good will is conveyed as heartfelt pledges are made
That the love displayed on Easter will never fade
All are soulidified and take this vow seriously
Knowing Christ’s sacrifice heals all humanity
Just west from where I live is Utah Lake,
where in the summer boaters like to take
their many kids, for Utah is the state
where Mormons live and like to populate!
Down south from my small city, deserts lie:
Bryce Canyon, Zion’s Park; it’s hot and dry
but beautiful! And eastward I can see
The Rocky Mountains rise majestically.
Just north of me, Timp cave! And seagulls thrive
around a giant salty lake. I drive
To Salt Lake or Park City for a show.
And those who ski love Utah’s “Greatest Snow.”
My city, once all trees, where peace resides,
is Pleasant Grove, with beauty on all sides!
For Brian Strand's "Sonnet Me" contest
The latter day saints
Their unwanted exodus
Had brought them many trials
Their biggest downfall
When Joseph Smith was martyred
It was a catastrophe
Despite their losses
Their legacy continues
The Church is their example
I am a Latter Day Saint myself.
We are also known as, "Mormons"
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