Wade Seego Believes Soylent Green Is People

By R. T. Smith b. 1947

Down here we say we dare defend our rights,

our state motto. I’d back Charlton Heston

for any office in the land. A Christian,

he speaks right up. He’s got his head on straight,

and people listen. Even on the screen

of a honky-tonk TV he still looks

like a hero, and he wouldn’t let freaks

take over our country. If it takes firepower

to keep us free, I say stock up. Keep your

powder dry. Everything is dangerous

these days. Life sucks. We suck too. Disaster

is coming. Even God’s gone spleenish. Bless

the common man against the government.

They lie. They grind us up. Winchesters

might be our last resort. Hellfire preachers

say we best prepare for a dark event,

but maybe Charlie Heston could keep death

off our backs and tone down Jehovah’s wrath.

Sweet Jesus—and this is the gospel truth—

is pissed off at our newfangled unfaith.

He’s coming back, and he’s armed to the teeth.

Source: The Hollow Log Lounge (2003)

Biography

Poet R.T. (Rod) Smith was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Georgia and North Carolina. He earned a BA in philosophy from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and an MA in English from Appalachian State University. His collections of poetry include From the High Dive (1983), The Cardinal Heart (1991), Hunter-Gatherer (1996), Trespasser: Poems (1996), Split the Lark: Selected Poems (1999), Messenger (2001), Brightwood . . .

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