An Update to the General Handbook

fifteen old men sit around a table

talking in depth about what to do

what to do about the problem

all over the internet

in every person's mind

one man has a message from God

maybe two men, maybe even three or four.

God is a notes app full of phrases like

"genitals decide what camp kids should go to"

"i don't understand feeling like another gender"

"data about transitioning preventing suicide is a lie"

four more men get messages from God

when the first four start the conversation

more and more they agree

that the trans kids are the problem

and not the complacent bishops and abusers

two more men get messages from God

when the Proclamation gets discussed

and another when the old men

start to chat about sexual deviants

and the body parts of kids

three more men get messages from God

and agree that grown adults should be treated

like the pedophiles they readmit,

and chaperoned to the bathroom

(when even the criminals aren't

in a church full of kids)

one old man remained with no message from God

who believes in loving his neighbor—

but unison is required and he is being watched

even though a girl at a boy's camp

would be a dangerous eventuality

one man pretends he has a message from God

because he wasn't brave enough

to say that it was wrong

and now there is an addendum

to tell people that God made them to be sinners

one young man sits

tears in his eyes

reading that addendum

and believing his existence, unto God, is a crime.