A chariot without a charioteer
¶A car without a driver
Of this contest we must fear
¶And who then is survivor –?
Anarchy and a thought police
¶Is what this people desires
Freedom as liberty from belief
¶But not from random fires;

In the place where all awoke
¶Declaring their priestly rank
The End could come if anyone spoke
¶With none but God to thank;
With enthusiastic fire
¶The Erie Canal¹ was aflame
Burned over as an electic wire
¶A filament is its name;

A wave anew presents its host
¶Of non-conforming souls
Any religion they could boast
¶To anywhere else it pulls
As an open mouth must sometime close
¶In death for some perhaps
Their open minds must find repose
¶A place to finally collapse;

For those whose power is all-outside
¶No center, just air and rind
Will conquer no city, take no side
¶Save one may come and find
A non-confomer par excellence
¶Who has no respect for walls
Mohammed of London, Mohammed of France
¶Entranced by Muzzein calls;

God is one and nothing beside
¶Wasn’t that their old creed
Soon they would set all else aside
¶For doing such is their need
Consider therefore, your neighbor now
¶And who he is in fact
They may learn it soon enow
¶The next time we’re attacked.

– E. Antony Gray is an American poet, musician and writer. He maintains a journal of his poetry called A Spy In The House of God and is a contributor to Social Matter.

Author’s note:

1. “The Erie Canal” is a reference to Western New York, the time: early 19th century. It was in this era, during what is known as the ‘Second Great Awakening.’ that the ‘Millenarianism’, that is, apocalyptic utopianism, of what in England was often called ‘non-conformist’ religion really flowered. Most of these radical movements were non-trinitarian, which to a classical Christian makes them both basically heretical and ‘unitarian’. The process continues today, producing further ‘burned over districts’ as far away as France. But in this case, the unitarian and non-conformist religion that progressives are cottoning to is quite ancient and very exotic: Islam.

SydneyTrads is the web page of the Sydney Traditionalist Forum: an association of young professionals who form part of the Australian independent right (also known as “non-aligned right”).