The Fourth of July [POETRY]

Over the coffin of a fallen soldier
Is draped the flag of the United States,
Signifying that death lies within.
How many a Southern church, preparing
For a patriotic holiday
Is smothered in those Yankee banners
From roof to floor, inside the walls and out?
Worse than the churches of Asia Minor,
Sick and diseased, addressed by Saint John
The Revelator in the Holy Scriptures,
Not merely weak are they but truly dead –
Tombs covered in the symbol of the idol
They have blindly worshipped for generations.
Christ calls but to no avail, for souls steeped
In delusion do not recognize the Shepherd’s voice
But hearken only to the devil’s howl.