Post-Christian

by Walt Garlington (June 2025)

–

Dymphna, the pretty royal maiden,
Born of Christian queen and pagan king,
Forced to flee her native Ireland.
Mother dying, father grieving,
An unnatural lust for his daughter bore.
Carnal burning, Dymphna flying,
Unto Gheel in Belgium with a priest,
Gerebern, true father and protector
For the virgin princess, bride of Christ.
The raving king searched, and found them,
Commanded Father Gerebern be slain
For daring to rebuke him,
And severed his own daughter’s head
When she refused his incestuous advances.
—————***
The life of these saints – an image of the West!
Pagan Europe was married to Christ
Near two thousand years ago,
But her faith grew weak and died,
And the West in her widowhood
Conceived again the desire for old, abandoned evils.
The Christian remnant of her soul sought for shelter
But was murdered, her conscience likewise seared and silenced
So as not to needle and pester the Western heart.
Now like the king she gibbers in her madness,
Howling as the dark spirits torment her,
Tearing and gnawing at her flesh,
Flicking feces with her fingers at the wall for sport.
But as the deranged of fourteen centuries attest,
Healing awaits those who approach
Saints Dymphna and Gerebern with faith.

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Walt Garlington was born and raised in that part of Dixieland called Louisiana. A chemical engineer by training, he has spent the last several years writing full-time. He has written essays and poems for The Hayride, New English Review, The Tenth Amendment Center, The Abbeville Institute, Reckonin’, Katehon, Geopolitica, and USA Really. He writes regularly at his own web site, Confiteri: A Southern Perspective.

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