On Tuesday

It was on the Tuesday

that he let them have it.

If you had been there you would have thought

that a union official was being taken to task

by a group of mobsters.

Or that the chairman of a  multinational corporation

was being interrogated by left-wing activists

posing as shareholders.

They wanted to know why,

and they wanted to know how.

The questions they asked

ranged from silly childish speculations

about whether you would be a bigamist in heaven

if you’d married twice on earth,

to what was the central rule of civilized behavior.

They knew the answers already…

or so they thought,

otherwise they never would have asked the questions.

And like most of us

they were looking for an argument

with no intention of a change of heart.

So he flailed them with his tongue…

those who tried to look interested

but never wanted to be committed.

And that was on the Tuesday…

the day when he let them…

let us…

have it.

From: Stages on the Way, Iona Community Wild Goose Resource Group