Goodbye Christ
Listen, Christ,
You did alright in your day, I reckon —
But that day's gone now.
They ghosted you up a swell story, too,
Called it Bible —
But it's dead now,
The popes and the preachers've
Made too much money from it.
They've sold you to too many
Kings, generals, robbers, and killers —
Even to the Tzar and the Cossacks,
Even to Rockefeller's Church,
Even to THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.
You ain't no good no more.
They've pawned you
Till you've done wore out.
Goodbye,
Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova,
Beat it on away from here now.
Make way for a new guy with no religion at all —
A real guy named
Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME —
I said, ME!
Go ahead on now,
You're getting in the way of things, Lord.
And please take Saint Ghandi with you when you go,
And Saint Pope Pius,
And Saint Aimee McPherson,
And big black Saint Becton
Of the Consecrated Dime.
And step on the gas, Christ!
Move!
Don't be so slow about movin'!
The world is mine from now on —
And nobody's gonna sell ME
To a king, or a general,
Or a millionaire.
You did alright in your day, I reckon —
But that day's gone now.
They ghosted you up a swell story, too,
Called it Bible —
But it's dead now,
The popes and the preachers've
Made too much money from it.
They've sold you to too many
Kings, generals, robbers, and killers —
Even to the Tzar and the Cossacks,
Even to Rockefeller's Church,
Even to THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.
You ain't no good no more.
They've pawned you
Till you've done wore out.
Goodbye,
Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova,
Beat it on away from here now.
Make way for a new guy with no religion at all —
A real guy named
Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME —
I said, ME!
Go ahead on now,
You're getting in the way of things, Lord.
And please take Saint Ghandi with you when you go,
And Saint Pope Pius,
And Saint Aimee McPherson,
And big black Saint Becton
Of the Consecrated Dime.
And step on the gas, Christ!
Move!
Don't be so slow about movin'!
The world is mine from now on —
And nobody's gonna sell ME
To a king, or a general,
Or a millionaire.
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Very negative poem.
Very negative poem.
Regina
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Very negative poem.
Very negative poem.
Regina
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You commented this twice. Two
You commented this twice. Two negatives makes a positive, meaning this is a positive poem. Was this your intention?
Dr. Mindy Kahling PhP
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I think this poem really
I think this poem really reflects how Hughes felt about religion after everything he had dealt with in his youth (Salvation). He had been sold on the idea that he would see a literal Jesus, but in reality he had been lied to by his "aunt" Reed. As a child he had waited throughout that night to see what he was told, but ended up being faced with the harsh reality that the church was nothing more than a sales place for religion and dead hope. "Goodbye Christ", as I see it, is a way of Hughes expressing that he would be paving his own way and not some religion. I personally can really relate to Hughes on his views, and with some of his experiences. Being taken to church as a child and being indoctrinated with christianity can lead to very different paths, as we can see some flourish and accept everything they're told or we can see some question it and wait to see if what we've been told is true. Hughes expression towards religion is very insightful and shows that we shouldn't just wait to see jesus and to be sold to a king, general, or tzar. We should pave out own way and make the world ours while we have it.
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