— Harry Smart

Praise be to God who pities wankers
and has mercy on miserable bastards.
Praise be to God who pours his blessing
on reactionary warheads and racists.

For he knows what he is doing; the healthy
have no need of a doctor, the sinless
have no need of forgiveness. But, you say,
They do not deserve it. That is the point;

That is the point. When you try to wade
across the estuary at low tide, but misjudge
the distance, the currents, the soft ground
and are caught by the flood in deep schtuck,

then perhaps you will realize that God
is to be praised for delivering dickheads
from troubles they have made for themselves.
Praise be to God, who forgives sinners.

Let him who is without sin throw the first
headline. Let him who is without sin
build the gallows, prepare the noose,
say farewell to the convict with a kiss.

Thinking today about what it means to deserve and to earn, and about my own current situation and the amount of grace apparent in it, and then ran across this. Difficult stuff — I can readily apply it to immediate and personal situations, but not to greater horrors. Are we all, in the end, really human?

Enough. You have reached the winter of my discontent. Please leave a message at the sound of the tone.