Heresy

[song_of_thea]

Papa has told us
We should gather all
Able-bodied boys and men.
Tell them, “God has called!”

“Our stores are weak,
It’s time to strengthen
Reserves and banks
Lest our Holy Empire fade.

“Our neighbors over yon
They have other Gods
So we shall save them all
From their ethereal squalor.”

We toil to gather,
We threaten to take the moon
We have already taken their wealth
And their ability to read books

But I, a lowly servant of
The Heavenly Father above
Question Papa’s motives.
I do not wish to follow this directive.

Surely,
The Lord would be merciful
His people and neighbors over yon
And would not require a massive army
For spoils to be won?

I think Papa has turned strange
Since mounting this Crusade
Something has corrupted
But who am I, but God’s chosen
And most studious servant?

I seal my thoughts away
On this vellum hidden
Beneath poetic Psalms to our Father
And gracious Mother Mary

Hark! The bells! I must go and pray
For Papa’s able-bodied army.
They do not wish to fight.
Some are only eight winters old,
Our priests have promised hellfire
To those who desert their posts.

I consider my own thoughts,
More and more, this Crusade seems wrong.
Our Heavenly Father would not want,
So I deviate from the word of Papa.

After Vespers,
My peers discuss protesting
They, too, feel Papa errs
I am happy to be correct

Yet when the morning bells toll,
Men in red arrive and take us all
We are dragged into the churchyard
With heresy, six of us are charged.

As they light the bundle of sticks
To which we are affixed, all six
Of us begin to sing prayers to the true God
And not the corrupt Papa

We stand our ground,
“Et Lux Eterna,” we sing as
The men in red answer, “Dies irae, dies illa”
The fire consumes us with our final chorus of “Ave,”
Has our God forsaken us now?

Death imminent, my soul begins to rise
From my desecrated body.
I see the villagers run for their lives,
For they do not wish to fight.

I pray for their safety
In this hour where God has left us to die
Perhaps God has sided with Papa after all
And we are blessed with Hellfire for admonishing
The Crusades.

Comments

[the_eternal_overthinker]

I like the imagery this built and also the thought behind it. The last stanzas are things I think about sometimes. Well done! Esp since its a poem.

[song_of_thea]

Thank you so much for your kind words.

[halfshellvenus]

I feel bad for the narrator here, wondering at the end whether he was on the wrong side all along now that it's far too late to fix anything.

I don't think he _was_, but how sad to have those last moments be filled with doubt when the choice has already cost you everything.

[song_of_thea]

I don't think the narrator was wrong either, but I am a pacifist at heart. My understanding about that era of history is that guilt was used as a weapon, especially when it came to converting during the Crusades.

Thank you for your comments.

[babydramatic_1950]

Spellbinding. But no, I don't think they are going to Hell. God loves peacemakers.

[song_of_thea]

I think so too, but the Crusades were a very dark era. Thank you for reading and commenting.