DISPLACEMENT
By Allen Lee Ireland
 

Man made a house for God as high in air

As He resides in human consciousness.

Man made a house for Lucifer as well,

As low as hate and evil live in us.

Their temperatures reflect degrees of mood

That their inhabitants personify.

God’s thermostat is always set to cool,

As understanding cools the surging blood;

While Hell is blazing like a fit of temper,

Humiliated pride, or day-old lust.
 

God’s house was built on beachfront property,

As infinite as oceans seem to be

To gazers gazing far as eyes can see.

The devil’s view is somewhat more confined—

A cave, a cavern, or the deepest mine

(His face is black from all the soot and grime),

With laborers and lakes of molten ore.

The “fiery furnace” is our planet’s core.
 

I asked a child once:  “Why would Man remove

The deities inhabiting his mind

To other realms?”  He thought, and answered me:

“Perhaps Man simply wanted to be free.”
 

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Poetry by ALLEN LEE IRELAND has appeared in Tucumcari Literary Review, Parnassus Literary Journal, Candelabrum, and The Lyric.  He received a Master of Education in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.