Sludge (October 11, 2000)

Shit rolls downhill
they say—
but so does sludge.
The byproducts of extraction
are not only sludge,
but exploitation and impoverishment,
despoilment and pollution.

Let us confess
that we have been complicit,
extracting converts
and denominational strength—
this land as rich,
it seems,
in souls
as it is in coal.
Our proclamation of the gospel
nothing more than
streams of poisoned water.