The Confession

17/01/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation



On Monday I confessed my love for you

You said you had stuff to do

Nothing more was said on that

As I watched you walk out over the welcome mat



On Tuesday I confessed my love for you

You asked about my favourite shade of blue

I thought a while before I said

I’m really rather into red



On Wednesday I confessed my love for you

While we wandered through the zoo

You were busy with the snakes

And wondering what kind of a selfie a monkey takes



On Thursday I confessed my love for you

But you were concerned with what I knew

About transcontinental railway journeys

And whether they gave discounts to attorneys



On Friday I confessed my love for you

You powdered the end of your billiard cue

Trying so hard to look so cool

While at the same time playing the fool



On Saturday I confessed my love for you

We were standing there, admiring the view

The waves crashing on the beach

And birds flying just out of reach



On Sunday I confessed my love for you

You complained about your new shoe

And that you’d need to take it back

When you really needed to pack



One day I will confess out loud

For now, it hangs over me like a cloud

I really should tell you before you go

But I’m afraid of your reaction once you know

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