The True Church

She said the true church was love

 

I laughed as she tore down the plasterboard walls
Threw the polystyrene altar into the fire
Weeping holy water that drowned the cat
As her religion outweighed her love

 

She said the true church was behind me

 

I lied as the devil came to me
Bearing gifts of sex and keys
Expecting undying devotion
Which I gave then recanted

 

She said the true church was hate

 

How easy it comes
The change from night to day
Her ally was jealousy
As she broke my nose

 

She said the true church was time

 

As I jumped from the fourteenth floor
I heard the ticking of a clock
From the fifth floor someone shouted
"get with the program"

 

She said the true church would welcome me

 

My knuckles bled
The door remained closed
Crying out in anger
I kicked the wooden panel with the upturned cross

 

She said the true church was energy

 

I lay in bed
Bemoaning the world
Her clothes lay scattered
The memory was there but I couldn't be bothered

 

She said the true church was me

 

Full of false idols
And wasted icons
Slowly
I became an atheist