"THE GODS WE WORSHIP LIVE NEXT DOOR" The gods we worship live next door. They’re brown
and how easily they catch cold sneezing
too late into their sleeves and brandishing
their arms in air. Fear grips us when they frown
as they walk past our grim deformities
dragging with them the secret scent of love
bought by the ounce from gilded shops above
the rotunda of the bright cities.

In the cold months of fog and heavy rains
our gods die one by one and caskets golden
are borne on the hard pavements at even
down roads named after them, across the plains
where all gods go. Oh, we outlive them all,
but there are junior gods fast growing tall.

1. What evident influences in the writer's life does the literary text reflect?

2. What has the author revealed in the text about his characteristic modes of thought, perceptions and emotion?

3. What are the effects of the differences between actual events and their literary transformation in the work?

4. What sort of society does the writer describe? Explain your answer.

5. What does the writer seem to like/dislike about this society?

6. What changes do you think the writer would like to make in the society? Explain your answer by stating evidence.

7. Who is the persona speaking in the poem? Explain your answer by stating evidence.

8. Is the speaker happy about the subject? What is the tone of his/her voice? Explain your answer by stating evidence.

9.Explain the last two lines “Oh, we outlive them all, but there are junior gods fast growing tall.”