The Black Christ & Other Poems/Dictum

by Countee Cullen

Dictum

YEA, I have put thee from me utterly,And they who plead thy cause do plead in vain;Window and door are bolted, never keyFrom any ore shall cozen them again.This is my regal justice: banishment,That those who please me now may read and seeHow self-sustained I am, with what contentI thrive alike on love or treachery.

God, Thou hast Christ, they say, at Thy right hand;Close by Thy left Michael is straight and leal;Around Thy throne the chanting elders stand,And on the earth Thy feudal millions kneel.Criest Thou never, Lord, above their song:"But Lucifer was tall, his wings were long?"