(x = space)

x

x

Stained/Strained Glass

x

O God,

We believe

Variously

x

Most of the world

(mid- to upper-nineties)

Believe in you

Some way

Somehow

x

I know what

I must believe

But am loath (to use

an antique word)

To insist

That the next one

Must believe as I

x

I’d rather have respect

For belief, lack of belief

And for us meeting

Anyway,

This way

Transacting with each other

And the Earth

x

Bad evangelism, maybe

For us all to meet

With friendship and respect

(as if meeting

friendship and respect

as angels met in

Baucis and Philemon)

To realize

Humanity

Alive on Earth

x

Withholding conscripted hands

By the switch

That only proves

Annihilation

x

So we learn

And maybe for petition,

Maybe gently pushing us

To places where people

Of Earth

Believe otherly

Or don’t believe

But worthy

On both sides

All sides

All around

x

And welcome

To the table

Of the Earth

Amen

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Adam Gonzales on Unsplash

x

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