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| Father Divine in Harlem (acrylic on canvas) 30" x 48" |
He looked out for himself
That son of freed slaves
That no name particle of lifeThat son of freed slaves
Who called himself Divine!
From gardener to preacher
With flowing words
Borrowed from Filmore
And made his own.
He conned blacks and whites alikeBorrowed from Filmore
And made his own.
From Baltimore, to Brooklyn to Sayville New York and into Harlem
He took money for his efforts
And forbade sex among his followers
Even the married ones
When all were penniless, he thrived
Opening hotels and restaurants and clothing shops
And Worldwide branches of a Peace Movement conjured up
A capitalist and a communist,
A charlatan and a priest.
A fraud and a prophet
Arrested and acquitted
Again and again
He fled from New York
All the while
Preying on the poor and gullible.
Committing crimes of man
Under the word of God
Divine!