The Seven Mountains Mandate – 6th January 2026

The Seven Mountains

1) Family

Vows are hammered into hinges,
genders stapled to locked doors.
Obedient to the Bibles;
The cradles are nailed to the floors.
The dominion of the supreme
begins in the caucasian stables;
Penetrating the hearts of those
white-washed brains of Western fables.

2) Religion

All the steeples report to a single inbox,
apostles with Wi‑Fi, prophets push notification;
Every creed is poured into the same jar,
hymns auto-update to the latest revelation.
Bug fixes, patch notes for heresy.
Your faith, imported; kept in the cloud.
Mono-denomination default settings,
dual logins are disallowed.

3) Education

Orchards replanted in straight lines,
discipleship needs an iron fist.
Chromosome combinations unapproved
will be quickly dismissed.
Microscopes tilt toward Bethlehem;
Maths will subtract the deviations;
History will match the doctrine
of the chosen ones’ observations.

4) Media

Breaking news of the devils trending
as every headline lands baptised.
With commentary lighting every doubt
because evil is always disguised.
On camera confessions sung like hymns
single note songs of divine opinion;
Here’s John, making the weather
100% chance of dominion.

5) Entertainment

Scripts scrubbed until jokes stop sinning,
audience triggered by canned laughter
Donate now and pay salvation
to the never-ending hereafter.
Keep the sermons and cut the kissing,
rehearsed repentance on the count of four;
This is the Kingdom theology
that evangelised entertainment is made for.

6) Business

CFOs reassign the spreadsheet cells
so that the wealth flows like a river up the hill.
Coins are passed down as tidy miracles,
smaller pockets are easier to fill.
The market wears a crown of certainties,
the tides baptised and taught not to turn.
Forever and ever in expansion;
Quarter’s profits are the Kingdom’s concern.

7) Government

Every sermon is a filibuster,
committee meetings adjourn for prayer.
Laws paved with verses that do not bend
so that the illusion of choice seems fair.
The New Apostolic Reformation
writes the new biblical constitution,
to take control of the seven mountains
and be the singular institution.

Coda

They said, “Climb,” but meant, “Conquer.”
Said, “Kingdom,” but meant, “Yours, then ours.”
The mountains are moving without consent,
replaced with unattainable ivory towers.
The cathedrals make the most of the shadows;
The valleys must play a game of pretend;
These steeples demand your worship;
The gods are just around the bend.

Written after reading this concerning article by the ever-reliable Brian Dunning:

Don’t look now, but your church might be legitimately evil.
While you’ve been paying attention to other things, the New Apostolic Reformation has been rolling its tank tracks over the skulls of both secular democracy and traditional Christianity.


If you are from the USA and perhaps even more so, if you are also Christian, I recommend reading this, even if only to share your point of view.

16th Jan 2026 – shared with dVerse OLN, hoping to get a few more eyes on this.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Where, Who, What and Why

Where do you stand? Who are you today?
What are you doing with yourself? Why are you doing it anyway?
Superficial-sounding questions are pointing towards the deep
Are you able to answer them? Or are you still asleep?

Sunset On Al Dera – 29th December 2025

photo: Ibrahem Nabeel/Google Maps

I walked down the old, sandy wooden steps
to the beach
I had been here decades before
everything looked different
but the smell was the same

a salt that cleared the nose
and spits in your face
time
and time again

I remembered the flashing lights
reflected on the water
all the good cheer
the dream that this day will never end
up before the sun
patiently impatient
the horizons are soon to reveal the truth

…but
this Christmas
I wanna die
I’ve seen Satan and Jesus
in a crimson-bloodied sky

angel wings pummeling the city to dust

Shared with an AllPoetry.com contest by Bad Jonny, who gave us the italicised lines as starters. I decided to use both and link them.
30th Jan 2026 – Shared with dVerse OLN #400

You Can’t See Me When I Close My Eyes – 17th December 2025

Shared with dVerse Quadrille #238 – hibernate.
The initial line is taken from Jae Rose’s poem ‘Coax’.

It is hard to
live fully above ground.

The nail that sticks
up gets hammered down.

Protected in silent procrastination
like a seasonal hibernation,
sleeping through until cessation.


When things settle down
I’ll return once more,
But until then, I’m
waiting for the thaw.

Belly Up – 16th December 2025

The belly up dog
rolls in recognition;

celebrating the leash,
revelling in submission.

In a democratic house,

its institutions sing

“we are free” until
it doesn’t mean anything.

The belly up dog

doesn’t need to be told

he’s free to roam

the lonely nights of cold.

Inspired by a couple of quotes:

we now live in an era when the slaves celebrate their slavery.

Nick Tosches


Democracy is a con game. It’s a word invented to placate people to make them accept a given institution. All institutions sing, ‘We are free.’ The minute you hear ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’, watch out because in a truly free nation, no one has to tell you you’re free.


Jacque Fresco

Plateau – 15th December 2025

What is a tableau?
Quick searching Google
brought me a surprise;
expecting paintings,
all I got was graphs
exploring data.

So the world has changed,
words have new meanings.
I wanted pictures
frozen at a time
of great importance,
to inspire a write.

Shared with dVerse MTB – tableau.
I know what a tableau is but went searching for something in particular to write about. I guess, in one way, I found it.

So, This Is The Free Country – 21st November 2025

Shared with dVerse Poetics – ‘So This Is…’

Prathet Thai (ประเทศไทย) literally ‘free nation’
Phra Athit (พระอาทิตย์) The Celestial Emperor.
Mae Khong (แม่ของ) River known as the Mekong in the West.
Mae Posop (แม่โพสพ) The Rice Goddess
The Naga (พญานาค) The Great Serpent
Mae Suay Dawan (แม่สวยดาวัน) The sun seeking reflection.
Nang Ron (นางร้อน) Invisible but felt everywhere.
Krungthep (กรุงเทพ) Bangkok
Phee WaeLa (ผีเวลา) The embodiment of lazy afternoons

Phra Athit, celestial emperor,
leads his royal procession each day
across the shimmering sky.
Breathing life into the rice paddies,
his golden robes gild temple roofs
and commands the reverence of the Mae Khong.

The hardy must endure his midday glare
until a truce is brokered
with Mae Posop and the Naga,
and so the seasons share the throne.

Mae Suay Dawan brushes pastel dawn
over the Andaman Sea
jewels of dew at her feet,
a gown woven from the first warm hush of morning.
Her quiet radiance outshines
the golden trumpet trees.

Nang Ron, lazy and playful trickster,
throws a heavy, humid blanket
over the melting asphalt of Krungthep.
Mirages rise like whispered promises of cool,
eyelids sag with heat;
she lulls us gently toward our hammocks.

The chef grills the city in a giant wok,
the rent is paid in sweat.

Phee Waela draws out the drones
of the cicadas
melting away afternoons.
The breath of the slumbering dragon,
an endless exhale.

Cat Flyer – 20th November 2025

Reba Spike on Unsplash.

Who coaxed the cat to the sky?
Watched it fly away like that
Spectators wonder just why
Some rat did that to a cat

And now, how to coax it down?
As it floats around so free
So absurd that it could drown
Chasing birds out to the sea

Maybe meow a message
Learn how to coax a human
To shoot down this odd carriage
From reknown to solution!

Shared with dVerse Q236 (but not a quadrille) – coax and Melissa’s FFFC #347 image prompt above.

Every Dog – 16th November 2025

Shared with dVerse MTB: The Roundel
*’The USA has met its enemy and it is the USA’ was taken from a Substack article I was reading but forgot to note the link.

The USA has met its enemy
and it is the USA, every day.
No one wants to play with the USA.

The truth is there for everyone to see.
All that’s left are the dreams of yesterday.
The USA has met its enemy
and it is the USA, every day.

They’ve been beaten at their own game, you see,
there’s none left outside for them to betray,
and so the empire is fading away.
The USA has met its enemy
and it is the USA, every day.
No one wants to play with the USA.

Container Drivers (Version) – 14th November 2025

Let’s heighten tensions with China
We’ve got to keep them down
Grey caps and grey trousers
Sweatshops will keep them down
We are containers, we are the drivers

Sideways perception
Allied ascension
Maintained low wages
Increased production
Therefore profit margins
We are the containers, and the drivers

The rhetoric was for two days
Maintained headlines for two days
Militarised, cold and grey
And sold so many papers
We are containers, we are the drivers

This is not our town
Alienation came from the ground
Hard work did not keep them down
Hard work bought them the town
With their containers and their drivers

J. Ma’s a distant relation
Of 1 billion full-time workers
So they all said ‘no thanks’
In commune and closed ranks
With their containers and their drivers

A wound self-inflicted
Partnerships invalidated
FOIP – branded strategy
Diplomatic engagements ended
With AI containers and robot drivers

Shared with dVerse Poetics – Pivot referencing the USA’s Pivot To Asia. For some reason, I had the Fall’s ‘Container Drivers’ stuck in my head and so the poem can be sung along in time with that (if you wish!)