March 21, 2011

A Couple of Poems

Here are a couple of poems I recently wrote that depict what I believe to be completely justifiable ways to relate to whatever we call God.  Acknowledging that faith is not a perfect knowledge and admitting that we are riddled with doubt is a good first step.  Rejecting the view that God is jealous and vengeful is a good second.  To do so would help render us more honest and forgiving.

Only Human

By my electric
Involuntary word,
Unseen legions rally
To battle the clandestine intruders
And renegade factions
That would destroy this vessel.

Making possible a storybook universe,
Embedded in dreams
And impenetrable longing,
Peopled by the captured and constructed,
Who cry for attention,
Then whisper in equal measure:
Truth and lies.

They have sentience
And also free will,
Capable of posing
That most disconcerting of questions:
Why should you be any different?
Maybe God, too, is an impulse
In the synapse of a greater consciousness.


Brushing Up to Godliness


I commanded, “No,”
But still he leaped,
Then whirled in midair,
Blinded and sneezing,
Frothing from the mouth.

The skunk wandered off,
Unbothered,
Just another day
For a being possessed with power
Worthy of a comic book character.

It was a bad morning to be without a leash.
Hand to collar,
We staggered to the nearest pond,
Barely able to breathe,
Rubbing the stink and the sting
From our tear-filled eyes.

Oh, I dunked him—
Be assured that I dunked him good—
Muttering all along,
“You damn dog.”

On the way home—
He in back,
Muzzle on paws,
Sad eyes only now opening
To the possibility of new
And disquieting hazards—
I lowered the window
And laughed into the passing breeze.

So what if the Jeep will never be the same?
Will I condemn the penitent
For his most endearing
Instincts and preoccupations:
Childlike enthusiasm
And boundless curiosity?

Perfection is unwarranted.
Give me quirkiness instead,
And other sweet foibles,
In all their glorious variety.
If so blessed,
Laughter will accompany me
Everywhere I go.

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