Inherently Good or Bad?

An exvangelical poem from a former Pastor’s Kid

Photo by Taha on Unsplash

TULIP

A lovely flower and

A torturous theology

The five points of Calvinism

My father’s chosen religion

Were drilled into me

Deemed more important than sleep

The starting point, the T

Stands for my Total Depravity

All men, and most of all Me

Were fundamentally filthy

My “conversion” at seven

Sure I’d never get to heaven

Was when I lied to my parents

Where I saw, and I wept

For the bad boy I now saw myself to be

I tried so hard to be good

But I really never could

For I saw, as I’m sure God knew

The sham, the scam

As the people pleasing mask grew

Some rebelled against these chains

While I lay 6 feet underground

Unmoving, asphyxiating as I was told

The living dead, helpless without divine intervention