ATHEISM

Atheism I have lost faith in atheism,
that desiccated world with gone gods,
missing gods, no gods, not really

Not even an emaciated one stranded on a cliff in Croatia
stunted and silenced by howling winds of logic
Not even a god born when a star rises in the east
wise men riding refractory camels shepherds waiting in the wings
 I have lost faith in atheism, leaving me stranded desert worn, desert wasted

No Bach with stained glass windows wafts of incense stirring my soul.
Twenty one grams of stardust slowly wither in my breast
No bowing five times a day to Mecca or touching a mezuzah as I leave each morning
I have lost faith in atheism,
but my soul is stained with skepticism, shaken with disbelief

 I will fly to Croatia to find the last shriveled god in the corner of a dim cave
We will sing and pray and weep the world back into being
Then the gods, the gods will return
wending their way through rents in time
Gods of wisdom, of water, of wine.

Claire Scott