Proselyte

 

I collect data which simpletons call facts 

I make observations blinded by traditions

I pose questions about questions that deflect

I develop arguments uncomfortable to mine

I offer suggestions others call speculations 

I have no evangelistic spirit

No mission below

No great commission from above

To advise others

To believe or not

Or even what to believe

As long as one believes 

That belief is faith in trust that’s loyal

To the faith entrusted to those who believe

My humor is dry 

I’m also not an enthusiastic tribalist

Geeked-out in defense of absolute truth

Nor am I a belligerent book burner

Or full-fledged misanthrope

I’m just heterodoxically dull

I neither assail Temple Mounts

Nor man apologetical barricades

I’m content 

As an embedded intelligencer

Offering provisional judgments 

Of guilded dogmas

Hoping to raise issues 

Others might find worthwhile pursuing 

You have been forewarned

You, with materialistic epistocracy 

You, with dogmatic goggles of ideology

You, with your reductionistic bag 

Of tricks, anomalies and absurdities

Explanations for every thing and why

All you who begin to listen to alternatives 

Will conclude with the same 

Commitments held before 

Multiple limitations will become excuses

Emotions will rule in moments of disagreement

Your adversary must be aloof 

To religious sensitivities

Historical complexities

Philosophical densities

Or theological tectonicities

Because you don’t actually long for the truth 

In the way a drowning man struggles 

For a breath of continued being

You’ll remain like those on powdered sugar

Beaches of sunny panhandles 

What you really want is a way to escape 

Yet remain comfortable and safe

Synonyms for justification

Of what you already trust

Oh, Rapunzel

have you ever wondered

about how predictable you are

you, over there with hoary mane

yes, you

The one all about grace, love, and mercy

grace like the carrot of a loving noose

dangling mercifully 

before the countenance of Rapunzel

showing willingness 

to forgive in order to love someone

gracious and merciful who loves someone

you hate

hate is such a strong word

         I suppose

despise is much more humble

and honest

instead of humble honesty

you prefer tender and winsome confabulation

like a box of disposable word masks

willing and ready to protect the mealy mouthed 

from what you think God frowns upon

but wills anyway, mysteriously 

like this glorious buffet of word soup

garnishing dislikes and disappointments

instead of humble honesty

that reminds me

I forgot to apologize

for your misunderstandings

slanders, idiotic assumptions, emotional abuse

and crisis of faith caused allegedly by yours truly

please accept this apology 

in its classical sense

pretty please with fluffy niceties 

and a gumdrop on top

your acceptance of my defense would be sweet

American Psychosis

 

You missed again. This time

It wasn’t just the sting

Of shrapnel or the chips of stone

Ricocheting off the ground

Of intentional, merciful 

Misfire. Or even the striking burst

That shocks others into fright

And flight. This time it was an organ

Pierced because he stands behind her 

Still while you apologize and gush

Of your beloved’s love for you

And your unconditional love 

For your beloved who loves another

Fill in the blanks

 

This generation

doomed to destruction

without resurrection

for all the blood

on their hands

worships blank

Each cannot fathom

what it means

to not let one eat

if one does not work

and so they uber

to blank

They chug all the blessings

cancel all the curses

Recline on factory sofas

in air conditioned spaces

while dogs eat the crumbs

of blank

Let's all dream 

of colonizing planets

injecting cures for cancers

surviving on impossible burgers

while dropping off kids at daycare

so we can celebrate blank

Our creed is simple

there is only adaption or escape

we evolved from something inhuman

pathogens are always trying to infect us

Science is real, from the big bang to your DNA

Worship blank or this generation is doomed