(May 3rd, 2008.)
Mighty big pyramids, long great walls,
And bombs that can in a minute ground them all,
Rockets to the moon and far far beyond,
But he made the greatest of them all when he made God.
In his mind and in his shape
Man made God, in many a name.
Hail the genius, for no one doubts
The story man made that God made us!
The bitterest of hatred, the noblest of deeds,
The most baseless of fears, the most hopeful of dreams,
If, are all inspired by just God's name,
Is He then not the greatest thing made?
-----
I apologize if this poem hurts anyone's sensibilities. I am not an atheist, but I strongly suspect that the concept of religion as it is today is completely made up, for man's convenience. In any case, resolving the debate about the existence or non-existence of God is beyond the scope of this blog post.
This post also reminds me of another poem from a long time ago, that, surprisingly, takes the exact opposite stand. Suffices to say that my views on life have changed drastically since then. While I do not subscribe to what is said below anymore, I thought it'd be a good idea to archive another old poem on this blog.
The Play
(August 6th, 2006.)
I knew not why the precious things of life
For no good reason were taken away
I knew not when in utter despair
How a stroke of luck came my way
I wondered how two strangers sometimes
Fit each other perfectly like a jigsaw
Or how two people, brothers for years
Killed each other one fine day in a war
Flustered by the mysteries of life
And brooding over these questions one day
I remembered what I should never have forgotten:
We are all just actors in a play!
Our Master essayed a complex plot
And picked actors for each role
He gave each one their part of the script
But how it all fits, He alone knows
I trust He knows what's best for me
So I question not why the play this way goes
All I must do is play my role
As best as I can, because my Master willed so.
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4 comments:
Two Nice Contrasting Poems!
thanks!
Good poems, especially the first one. I like how you made your point in just three stanzas.
I, however, have comments on both. As to the first: God was not necessarily a conscious invention (when you think back to medieval or the BCs); it was more an act of "I don't understand / can't control something, so I'll worship it". In fact, the path from absolute faith to disingenuous faith has been a subtle, millennia-long process.
On the second poem: It reminded me of the Gita and its characterization of karma. I am agnostic but I find that I do not need a God-figure to understand that life is indeed a very complex play, and that I should "Karmanyeva adhikarasya Ma faleshu Kadaachana". Of course, that isn't what your poem was about... it just prompted this rant.
Keep up the good work.
Yours comments well taken. I agree with you that the concept of religion wasn't made up intentionally, and that it was more of a subconscious act. In fact, the faith of most believers, even today, is quite genuine. The poem is just what the whole process would look like to an outside observer / a disbeliever.
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