An Atheist on Sacred Ground

10/01/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation



        Confess to me your sins

        Release them from your mortal being

        Into the cavernous space above

        So you might be forgiven



Forgive me father, for I believe not

These walls radiate no godliness

No matter how prettily they are put together

Or how great the belief of its designer



I come not to be welcomed into the fold

But to behold the achievements of humankind

In creating this place that you and I hold so dear

But for such very different reasons



        I’ll pray for you, my child



Keep your words from my ears

If their only purpose is your desire

To convert me to your brand of worship

Which offers me no salvation



My redemption will come from inside me

Through quiet contemplation

Not by some divine revelation

Or through his earthly messenger, yet



        May God bless your heart



I do not feel a connection rising to my soul

Through this inscribed concrete floor

It does not carry with it those departed

From crypts buried deep below our feet



The sense of peace I get from this place

Has naught to do with matters of faith

But with the solitude I can enjoy

In this small chapel to the side



        Hate the sin, love the sinner



The sense of wonder and awe I experience

Has not come from a spiritual cause

And is all to do with the majesty of the organ

And the aesthetic beauty of the stained glass



Save your communion and confessional

For those who share your devotion

This unbeliever loves you still

Even if you think I haven’t been saved

Passing the Church

13/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation

Passing the church

For the first time

Since making the decision

To tell my parents

I didn’t believe

Was overwhelming.



Of course,

There were tears,

And bargaining,

And threats

Of eternal damnation

That just didn’t fly.



Each time, though,

It gets easier

To not feel the pull

And I can admire

The architecture

For what it is.



I know they’re inside

Exalting a deity

They cannot see

Or hear or feel

Except through words

Written long ago.



They’re praying for me

To see the light

That they imagine

But I refuse to be blinded

By an ancient myth

Superseded by knowledge.

Trapped

12/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



I am trapped.

Caught between

Obligation and

A freedom that

Seems to be

Just out of reach.



I am cornered

By a family

Who loves me

For who they think

I am but not who

I am on the inside.



I am besieged

By emotions I

Shouldn’t have to fight

But cannot quell

And leave me

Bereft of strength.



I am stranded

And alone

In this world

Of make believe

That I have discarded

As a folly of youth.



I am held hostage

By beliefs not my own

But foisted upon me

By generations

Of unquestioning

Devotion.

Senza ombra di Marte

How I wish I had your crutch
To lean upon when I am tired
Of all the world and people in it
But that's not how my brain is wired,

Though of late I have to wonder
If it is actually a comfort at all
When you sing out to the void at night
And there's no-one to return the call.

Do you cling without knowing why
Or is it a habit too hard to break?
Do you follow, word for word,
Or pick and choose for society's sake?

I struggle every day with this,
The overwhelming uncertainty,
Simply doing the best I can
To avoid the unfeeling monotony.

Yet, in the end, I'd rather not know
Than be cloistered by false belief.
My being craves discovery
But not cold comfort in my grief.

What could give a flower more beauty,
A lover more passion,
The night sky more majesty?
Not an other-worldly flight of fashion.

Could you not be good without it,
Not well mannered or honest enough?
Is that all which holds this world together
When the going gets rough?

As the bell tolls one last time
And the final curtain falls,
You won't hear me recanting
Or shrouded by iconic palls.

Do not bear the burden of supplication
When your heart can answer instead,
Nor imbue the air with divinity
Or as a sheep be lead.

Rejoice in the achievements of humanity
Who seek to soar amongst the stars
Not in death on feathered wings
But as pilgrims beyond the shadow of mars.