UNBELIEVER (Poem)

Jeff trying out this poem at Psanctum open mic night in Portland, Oregon.

Did I lose my faith?

Since my apostasy,

What do I believe?

I don’t believe

anything

anymore.

I notice.

I acknowledge.

I love.

I’m open

to realities

and experiences.

I welcome new

Insights and

new embraces.

If I meet a fairy

or a shape shifting coyote

or a goddess of mercy

I won’t be so rude

as to deny their existence.

I will notice them.

If they speak truth,

I will agree with them.

Yet even if a powerful

Near Eastern god’s

priesthood tells me to believe

in cruelty and domination,

lest I plunge into damnation,

I will blaspheme for the sake of love.

You see, I won’t believe

dogmas of hate

even if they come

from a mountain top.

I won’t believe in lies

even those that come

with heavenly bribes.

I’m a spiritual anarchist.

I’m a heretic for God’s sake.

I’m an unbeliever,

so I spread

childlike rumors

of the sacred

that can yet be seen

amid all the absurdities

of our present,

unpromising hour.

Maybe you’ll sit

and rest with me

in the unbelievable

for a little while.

Together,

we can learn

to unbelieve

for the sake of what

the sages meant

by spirituality.

—JEFF MALLINSON