A Poem by Daniel Berrigan--Appropriate for This Presidential Election

And Where in the World Are You?

I see the wicked glide by
sleek in their velvet hearses
rich beyond measure, egos
puffed like an adder's

No sons of misfortune these;
no cares
shadow the perfumed brows;
a whirligig of furies
their axletree cuts;
the innocent die.

I sweat like a beast
for the fate of my people.
Is God
ignorant, blank eyed
deaf, far distant
bought off, grown old?

They rape the fair world
they butcher, huckster
by the pound, living flesh;
their guns, their gimlets
claim us for trophy.

Why then endure
why thirst for justice?
Your kingdom-come
a mirage, never comes.

I sweat like a beast
my nightmare is life long
and where in the world
are you?

[Fr. Daniel Berrigan. Page 53, Psalm 73 in his Uncommon Prayer: A Book of Psalms]

Fr. Berrigan's poem is like so much of the Bible, dripping with frustration and something close to despair. Where is God in all this? We pray the Our Father, the Lord's Prayer, and ask that "Thy kingdom come," but it seems like it is not coming, not being born in our lifetimes. The world seems like it's owned and manipulated by the super rich, those who "rape the fair world / they butcher, huckster / by the pound, living flesh; / their guns, their gimlets / claim us for trophy." These are heartfelt, sad words written by the poet and prophet Daniel Berrigan.