The Zealot

He was a classic
Religious zealot,
As narrow minded
And self-righteous
As they come,
Constantly quoting
Biblical scriptures
For they were
His weapons of choice
In his self-ordained
Duel with the world.
He incessantly spoke
Of the Day of Reckoning,
The Final Judgement Day
When he alone
Would triumph
And all the rest of humanity
Would suffer.
He saw mankind
Through contemptuous eyes,
And relished the destruction
He predicted.
The sins he decried
So vehemently in others
Were the moral temptations
That he didn’t
Have the strength
To resist himself,
A basic hypocrisy
Common to those
Who pass such
Bitter judgement of others.
He talked of love,
But there was venom
In his words.
The fires of his indignation
Burned bright,
And had he the power
And the ability to exercise
That power,
All mankind would have
Paid the price.
No one would have escaped
His demonic inquisition.
His effervescent hatred
For this world
Knew no limits.
He talked of Heaven
As if it would be
His reward
For preaching
His particular
Brand of hate.
All I knew was
If that was where
He was heading,
Then I would gladly go
The opposite direction.
The Hell he described
In such picturesque terms,
Sounded a lot like
The world he created
For himself
Here on earth.
Fortunately, he didn’t appear
To have much of a following.
His diatribes against society
Tended to drive others away.
If he ever did get
A group who bought
His peculiar perspective,
There might be
Reason for concern,
But as it was,
He made a lot of noise,
And accomplished nothing.