by Jason Kirk Bartley

The gates of hell are never quenched,
the stench of sweat and blood their drenched,
open wide a mourner’s dark place,
tossed aside,
they’ve lost the race.
The flames are stoked, high and real,
the agony and pain they must feel,
being burnt, but never consumed,
there is no more hope for they are doomed,
an eternity without our Lord,
moans and groans with one accord.
They traded their souls for pleasures on earth.
How much was their souls really worth?
Demons and devils dance in the flames,
no longer can the soul cry out in Jesus’s name.
It’s for the people who would not receive God into their hearts,
they would not believe,
no longer able to repent,
the fiery serpent put his venom in,
they chose to live a life of sin.
They cry for mercy, but it’s not there,
swallowed up in death beyond repair.
They’ve already sealed their fate.
stuck behind the fiery gates,
crying where no one else will hear,
shedding many, many of tears.
Shrill screams,
a nightmare here and abroad,
the cost of rejecting a holy God.

Jason Kirk Bartley is a Christian poet from Chillicothe, Ohio. He is 47 years old and married to Nila, his forever love. He has been published poems and won awards. Jason holds a Master’s degree in Ministry from Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio.