Nobody lives forever unless they

die and get life again or the real deal
according to religious folks up in
Heaven but I guess I'll find out what's what
one day that's not really a day because
I'll be dead and in the Afterlife or
so they say at Sunday School but I wish
that when I learn the truth even though I'll
be dead then I'll resurrect and tell all
the people what to expect, that should clear
up a lot of misunderstanding and 
fear and misgivings and so on and I
wonder sometimes why some dead soul hasn't
done so already, Jesus excepted,
somebody real I mean. I like Judas.

One day I'll be standing before the Throne

of Great God Almighty to get my soul
judged and He'll likely ask Aren't you the one
who took My name in vain all those times and
I won't lie, you can't bullshit God any
-way unless He wants your bullshit but
that's another matter so I'll say Yes,
depending on what Thou mean by in vain,
Thou sure weren't much good when I needed Thee
and we'll see how He likes that comeback--what
can He do but deliver me to Hell 
for Eternity and I'm headed there
anyhow. Oh, He could make me live a
-gain, then kill me twice or as much as He
wants. Of course, I could do the same to Him.

Gale Acuff has had poetry published in HeartWood (2019), Ascent, Reed, Journal of Black Mountain College Studies, The Font Chiron Review, Poem, Adirondack Review, Florida Review, Slant, Arkansas Review, South Dakota Review, Roanoke Review and many other journals in over a dozen countries. He has authored three books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel, The Weight of the World, and The Story of My Lives. Gale has taught university English courses in the US, China, and Palestine.