Some folks say that God is Love.
Oh, my goodness! Then sue me for libel!
He doesn't sound very loving to me--
The god that you find in the Christian Bible.

It's mainly the Old Testament god
Whose loving aspects are hard to find.
Watch out or he will harden your heart,
Give you boils, or make you go blind.

In fact, he is insanely jealous
And proud to be so, the writers say.
Even look at another god,
And there is going to be hell to pay.

He can be quite petty at times--
Indifferent as to whom he offends.
He doesn't want you to eat shellfish.
And what's his problem with cotton blends?

Very often he is unjust--
Sometimes for neither reason nor rhyme.
Work on the sabbath and you should be ******!
Does that punishment fit the crime?

An unforgiving control freak,
He wants to micromanage us all.
And woe to you if you disobey him.
Look what they say he did to Saul.

A bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser,
He's truly worthy of being reviled
For telling his people to plunder towns
And **** each woman, man, and child.

Misogynistic, homophobic,
And very vindictive if you say no.
From sacrifices to wars and slaughter,
He seems to love to see blood flow.

Megalomaniacal,
He longs for glory and applause.
Cower when you stand before
The great and mighty Wizard of Oz!

For those who are unfaithful, he says,
Unless their evil rebelliousness ceases,
They will fall by the sword and their
Children will be dashed to pieces.

He often derives sadistic pleasure
In hurting those who don't adhere
To his commands and who do not
Sing his praises and live in fear.

Fear of what? Of retribution.
If you don't believe in him,
He threatens eternal punishment.
I hope that hell at least has a gym.

He always seems to be mean and angry.
Look how he treated the Philistines.
Acting like a malignant bully,
He isn't loving by any means.

A very unpleasant character,
Instead of a help, he's more of a bother.
I wouldn't want someone like that
To even be considered my father.

If you don't believe me, then you
Should read the Bible and you will see
How God in the scriptures is not so loving
As people make him out to be.

-by Bob B (5-20-25)

The love I had for you

Made the Gods jealous

But the pain you gave me

Made the Devil laugh

oh how I remember
when I was a kid
that I thought drinking
and driving
meant any kind of beverage
and got so nervous
when I saw my parents
drinking water
while driving
oh how I remember
how I innocent
and naive
I was

I used to think blue eyes were pretty,
his were not.
his were not cornflower, sapphire, baby, indigo, azure,
or cloudy sky blue.
His were midnight where the light pollution from the city blocks the stars.
Iceberg, squall, hypothermia, eventual death

I once called you
My most beautiful flower
The way you bloomed
Thriving with life and color
Twisting and spreading
But like all plants
They needed to survive
My heart was your soil
You took what you need
Until my love was drained
You died in my arms
And those thorns scarred me
I kept watering you desperately
But my tears weren't enough
Did you leave a seed for me
A bit of hope to bloom again
Or was this the last season
You grew with me

I remember you
Holding both my hands
                                In your palm
Raised above my head
You bathed me
                 Sang nursery rhymes
With eyes that outshone surroundings

Now it is I
That holds both your hands
                       Talking of love
                       Reassurance
With eyes that outshine reality

For many years,
I didn't own a
television.
I didn't want one.
The news gave me
anxiety, and most of
the movies were
horrible.
Bad actors,
terrible acting
and predictable plots.

I wasn't buying any
of it.

My Dad loved
watching movies.
He often used the word,
contrived
when summarizing them.

I remember watching
The Grapes of Wrath
with him.
After the movie, Dad talked
about leaving in his will,
a list of his ten favorite
movies for his seven kids
to watch sometime.
He wanted us to know
him better.

He forgot about it and died
a few years later.
I always thought Dad had
too much faith in mankind.
But, after watching The Grapes
of Wrath again, maybe he
didn't.
I hope we all live until
we die.