Awakening II: The Poetry of Gunnar Våken

Poem: Religion

Religion is something
You're born into
Like ethnicity
Or you choose
From following peers
Or necessity

It comes in all shapes and sizes
Fanatical, M.O.R. or lite
It can illuminate to some extent
Or rob you of your sight

Why people turn to invisibilities
When the visible is so enormous
Is to me a great mystery
Savvy politicians
And influencers
Tap into these trends
Reinventing history

My hands for years
Soaked in these waters
Until one day
This clay escaped
From the potters

I now stand on the sideline
Watching religious folks
As in a spectators' game
Both now and forever you can count me out
Now that I've changed my name

And as situations change and fluctuate
And I join you down this path
Let's live by nature and its rhythms
And ignore the purported deity's
Pleasure and wrath

~ Gunnar Våken