Atonement

The gods are angry, Maki knows.
He knows the gods. His father
Taught him what they did and
What they wanted, long ago,
When he was young and naked,
Living in the woods. The gods
Are there in everything, and
Ask for nothing more of us
Than that we show appreciation,
That we do not waste their gifts,
And, so, we thank them for the sun,
And for the rain, and for the
Plants and creatures which we
Use and eat, and, if we take too
Much from them in greed, or, if
We say we are as gods ourselves,
And do not need them, which
He knows, that we have done,
In anger, they will punish us,
And Maki, now in Sao Paulo,
In a shirt and pants and shoes,
And in an office, taller than a
Tree, from which the orders
Come to burn the forest,
Drill the sea, to show the gods
That those who should have
Bowed their heads in gratitude
Are greater beings, capable of
This: of using and destroying
Everything belonging to the gods,
And, now, the gods are angry,
And they've set the earth alight.
The rain god doesn't let it rain.
The plants have wilted. All
The animals have died or
Disappeared, and all these
Imitation gods, these men
In rooms with plans and charts,
Insist that they will persevere.
Another real can be made
From gashes in the sacred
Ground, from water dammed
And sent to cities. Maki
Drives his car into the forest
On the edge of town, and
Stops, and takes off all his
Clothes, and, naked, goes
Into the forest, hoping he
Can show the gods we've
Learned we are not gods.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 18 times
Written on 2012-08-15 at 00:56

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