poem

 Pantheon II

When I was a boy it didn’t take long before I was 

Eye rolling away from the holy rollers,

The stern prophets of the One True God

Dabbled uneasily for a while as a nihilist atheist

Softened into a mildly antagonistic agnostic

Before settling into a comfortable

Middle aged disengagement:

Let me just live this stupid life, OK?

But it never goes away

Those nagging doubts
How do you ever know for sure?

So you hope for detente

A gentleman's agreement

Give me a little space

But don't forget me entirely

It gets all dysfunctional

As deeply woven relationships tend

No one god could be 

Everything we need

And, frankly, none of us have

Been the best disciples

So expand your pantheon

You’ll find it doesn’t dilute holiness, not one bit 

The bastard little gods are everywhere

If you’re paying any attention

My baby girl becoming a lovely young lady

My boy, like looking into 40 year old mirror

I’ve found dusty and dulled in an attic

This ache in my hand

That no one else can feel or know

I’d do anything for the gods

Of such small and beautiful pleasures

Look, the dutiful daffodils bowing their heads 

To the god of April showers 

The church of the early morning frost

Crunching under my boots 

Pretty soon you realize everywhere you go is sacred land

I’ve become the most religious man on earth

In some quarters I am worshiped

As the god of tragic endings 

4/22/23