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"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" • The Smiths (by Deron Eckert)


It takes a special breed of asshole

to believe anything Morrissey spouts out

when he is or isn’t singing about loneliness

or coming together in a heated moment

so hot you would forget he’s passionless

when it comes right down to traditional forms

of passion in the biblical sense of the word.

But we’re not talking about the Bible.

We’re listening to wailing about passion so strong

you’re willing to die by the side of someone

you’re actually connecting with,

a passion that doesn’t come from Christ,

that doesn’t come prescribed by a lecturing

reverend too ready and willing to tell you

about faith out of one side of his mouth

while chewing on fiery brimstone in the other

cheek he wouldn’t turn to save your life

if it cost him the free house your offering

pays for every Sunday you make the mistake of going

to sleep through another sermon instead of spending

your good, hard-earned money on something

that actually offers you a reward in return,

whether it be happy hour booze or a matinee

showing an old schlock flick with a rampaging monster

no one in their right mind would waste time on

just to find out there’s something moving

beneath the red-dyed corn syrup and fake breasts

not quite worth dying over because they must be past

their expiration date. But we work with what we got,

and sometimes, the only light we have is projecting

blood and sex in a celluloid showcase of twisted horror

hiding the same desire Morrissey preached about:

the call to find someone you would happily die for

if it meant you got to be with them for one more night.



Deron Eckert is a writer and poet who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, Strange Horizons, Door is a Jar, Ghost City Review, Maudlin House, The Fourth River, and elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram at deroneckert and Twitter @DeronEckert.


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