Friday, February 12, 2016

On being driven, to Vulgarity ...



A  poem about a vulgar prophet, people forget that he swore from the pulpit.  Most of his speeches have been edited by his children and followers to remove the vulgarity. I wish we could return the vulgarity for he was a common and vulgar man who taught men to reach for the stars. 



Born common he was...
She died, while he was young

Father left him, for the one 
who replaced her.

Methodist,
at first was he not?

In tongues, yet he spoke
In the language, of their god.

Having been left,
by those he loved.

No one could drive him,
Like a tamed mustang, or mule.

He learned to swear on the open prairie.
Tell him shit, they would not.

Death could do that to one.
Make you more vulgar, a little less common.

Discord in the church,
 cost him,  the life,

of the one, who, could form him, shape him,
prophet, priest, and king.

He would drive them,
 from Nauvoo,
to that place 

Where they would raise, an Ensign to the nations.

Tell him shit, They would not,
these apostles, these men of god.

As he became
A little less common. A little more Vulgar.

Then he raised up their eyes,
and lead them to reach, For their God.

February 2, 2016
after reading a new biography of Brigham Young.
Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
by John G. Turner  


Brigham Young


I believe firmly in the value of all vulgar notions, especially of vulgar jokes. When once you have got hold of a vulgar joke, you may be certain that you have got hold of a subtle and spiritual idea. The men who made the joke saw something deep which they could not express except by something silly and emphatic. They saw something delicate which they could only express by something indelicate. ..... In order to understand vulgar humour it is not enough to be humorous. One must also be vulgar, as I am.
(G.K. Chesterton, All Things Considered, P.11)