Upon the Heavenly Scarp

I
And on that day, upon the heavenly scarp,
The hosannas ceased, the hallelujahs died,
And music trembled on the silenced harp.
An angel, doffing his seraphic pride,
Wept; and his tears so bitter were, and sharp,
That where they fell, the blossoms shriveled and died.

II
Another with such voice intoned the psalm
It sang forth blasphemy against the Lord.
O that was a very imp in angeldom
Who, thinking evil, said no evil word
But only pointed, at each Te Deum,
Down to the earth, and its unspeakable horde.

III
The Lord looked down, and saw the cattle-cars:
Men ululating to a frozen land.
He saw a man tear at his flogged scars,
And saw a babe look for its blown-off hand.
Scholars, he saw, sniffing their bottled wars,
And doctors who had geniuses unmanned.

IV
The gentle violinist whose fingers played
Such godly music, washing a gutter, with lye,
He saw. He heard the priest who called his aid.
He heard the agnostic’s undirected cry.
Unto him came the odor Hunger made,
And the odor of blood before it is quite dry.

V
The angel who wept looked into the eyes of God.
The angel who sang ceased pointing to the earth.
A little cherub who’d spied the earthly sod
Went mad, and happed his wings in crazy mirth.
And the good Lord said nothing, but with a nod
Summoned the angels of Sodom down to earth.