…On Religion

Agnostic Revisited

by Carey Lenehan

I looked for it in Church, this thing they call Faith.
The arches were pretty, the air was still
but in the dusty gloom
of all those criss-crossed chantrys
I found only
Dust and the crumpled petals of
Other people’s belief.

I searched for it in school, during many hours of
mindnumbing recital,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus Deuteronomy, Numbers…
As if it mattered,
which order they came in, for the sense
to me was always missing.

I learned a tale, a pretty fable,
of fishes and loaves,
heroic escapades and blessed passovers,
told daily that
this was the God of me, the one true faith, superior,
in form and style, to all others
Church of England,
King James and his jolly bible
A history of the world according to whom?

Today I learned another Genesis, another creation,
Similar to my own, but different…
Four thousand years different
Other Gods, other times, other faiths…
Same story

So tell me Mr Fisher, Religious Education Teacher,
Bald and boring,
which story did you teach me?

Was it truth we sought on dry afternoons
with Genesis
And Exodus?
Was it God, or Yahweh, that saved Moses
from the wrath of the Pharoahs he cheated?
Did the secrets of Solomon come,
not from God, but from Sumer,
from the Seat of Life
From the silty mouth of the Tigris
and the lush Euphrates fruit bowl,
from the land of oil,
And war?

Here lie the tablets of a different history,
before the legends of Christ,
these other origins of Darwin,
in the time of Heroes, midst clashes of Titans,
Here where Mohammad and Jacob are forever opposed
Beneath the eye of Horus, the valley of gold
In the fields of the Nefilim, under the light
of a true Creator,

Here lies a bible submerged in mud,
Buried by a flood
and the faith you imposed.
Mr Fisher,
you should have looked further
than the end of King James.

******

Dealing on the Dark Side

by Carey Lenehan

Be careful, if you sell your soul
on the black alter of life, in the church
of the poisoned mind
or at the dark crossroads in the witching hour,
for there is no way back,
no way out,
and all that is light and good
will slip from your grasp.

If you sell your soul for greed you will be rich
in this life
and a pauper for eternity
so best not forget
that eternity is a long time
to be cockroached
in the littered gutter of existence.

If you sell your soul for vanity
beauty may dress you for a few short years
but ugliness
will live in the fabric of your being
painting over the beauty
of everything that only you can see

If you sell your soul for pride
always, shame will live in your heart
where only you can feel it
and hatred and envy
will grow
in the hearts of all around you

Sell your soul for need
which is a matter of perspective
whether your own, or for someone else,
then need will follow you for the rest
of time, through eternity and beyond
for never will you have enough

But

If you sell your soul for love,
oh, for love
to save a life, to give your own
to bring back someone who is gone
to release a child from a life of pain
or fear,
then listen well

For if it is love in the driving seat
and you, riding shotgun
you need never be afraid
to make that deal
Do not hesitate, for nothing
can harm you again

Dealing for existence brings hollow rewards
temporary peace, a momentary respite
but life is eternal, we go on for ever
so keep your soul intact,
for you will need it
live a good life,
for it will count
and make no deals, with devils.

******

AGNOSTIC

by Carey Lenehan

You tell me that I have no faith, of God am unaware
When simply in my heart I have no sense of one being there
He does not see the sparrow tumble from the tallest tree
Nor does he know the things in life which sorely trouble me
He has no lien upon me, nor upon my mortal soul
And I do not seek to find his way or make his word my goal
He did not give me life, nor create the heaving seas
Did not teach the birds to sing or coach the dancing bees
Am I an evolutionist, empirical at heart?
Or do I damn myself and say, ‘Of God I want no part’?

Simple chance and circumstance created humankind
No pattern of design devised by some immortal mind
A cocktail soup of chemicals dressed with a touch of sun
Life bursting from coincidence, set free and left to run
So why quote to me the words of men that I have never met
Why bludgeon me with some strange truth I cannot quite accept
Why tell me that the holy words give meaning to mankind
We honour not the rules and vows, in sin so deep confined
We only keep the word of God when it suits us to
Our lives entwined in our own greed, in what we can accrue

You tell me that my future is in doubt if I deny
That some great, disembodied being floats way up on high
But I don’t see him when I look, he never speaks to me
Do you think he will forgive my doubt and insecurity
If he came to call upon me or spoke within my sleep
Then maybe I would find a spark of what you call ‘belief’
So leave me in my solopsistic and agnostic state
My nature ruled by nature, not by the lure of Heaven’s Gate
My creation just an act of chance, not heavenly decree
My faith in my own power, not in that I cannot see.

******

Dinosaur

by Carey Lenahan

I watched the Dinosaur crawl from the bowels of the mountain.
We heard the rumble as it climbed up from the bony bed,
from the rock,
Into the cold sunlight, between the pillars of ancient Gods it ambled,
swaying its horned head from left to right.

There, arrayed in glory, gored in red, incensed
It held the world in thrall,
but
Behind the glittering eyes, beneath the towering dome,
The snakes entwined like lovers and the shadows between consume
In awe, we are meant to fall beneath the lumbering feet
crying like the lost, praying for escape, calling for Mercy, mercy, mercy….

The Dinosaur hears, but it does not listen,
For it owns wisdom, is the father of time
and we are not its equal.
Fear is the fire it breaths, fear is the flap of cardinal wings
on a stealthy breeze
Fear is the mitred crown upon that flaming head.
Fear is the wisdom it will not share

It does not love us, it will not save us. It wants to eat us up,
with a smile
This monster from antiquity, thrums in anachronistic synergy
If we looked away it would become extinct

We watch the Dinosaur crawl out.
We will watch it crawl back down
We will sigh and turn away, if we escaped….
How many souls will it consume today?
How many more times must we endure this worm,
canned, vatted, packaged like a treat,
Emerging from behind the wall,
In search of souls to eat?

The Dinosaur exists
We give it wings. We pay its rent and board
From the day we are born, to the day we die
It feeds upon us and
outlives us all.

And when at last, we see the smoke and mirrors,
Will it be too late, for recompense?
Or will the Dinosaur, replete, immortal and so very content
Sit back upon its crusty haunches, and belch?

© Carey Lenehan 2006