Who are you, and how did you become that?
Arrive from outside the orbit of dreams,
And take these uncertain steps, ask
For directions from trees that lean
Into the wind, guided by all failings. Then,
And only then, answer our question.

It would seem we all have these habits,
And deny them at every turn, We awake
Each day and face ourselves with dread:
What if we are discovered, called out
By the world we try to fool with our lies?
The answer is not so simple now, is it?

How can you know who you are if you cannot say
How you are formed? Nature, nurture,
Its too simple an explanation,
It fails to take into account the rain of fear
We walk through each day. Why do you insist
There is a central truth?

You pretend that your religion will
Infallibly guide you, and then demand
It do the same for us. Oh please
Leave us behind, free from your certainty,
And from the fear your faith excretes.

Once you had faith in the grass and the air,
And the water that cooled your young body
In summer’s sweet embrace. Now the wind
Is fouled by greed, and faith a false cover.
How can you believe when you have to keep saying
You believe? You would drag us into the same pit.

Leave us with our doubt, rise up to heaven,
Be free of the world. It no longer wants you
And your religions. Go where your god calls you,
While the rest of us spend eternity trying
To put this place right, to dream a world into being,
Without the weight of your fear.

5/7/05 - NB