Every New Pantheon
I gazed upon some cauliflower clouds
Where many morphing faces looked around,
And barring the descent of nimbus shrouds,
I’d get to linger, dry, on open ground.
They tell me that those Beings in the sky
Are nothing but inventions of my mind.
I strongly disagree, and here is why:
Substantial deities are hard to find
And, when they’re found, deserve to be believed.
If Bishop Berkeley’s claims have any worth,
The whole wide world is constantly perceived
By Entities who oversee the Earth.
I hope, by grace or fortune I have missed
That road which is by good intentions paved,
But any breathing Universalist
Will say that every one of us is saved.
I have my doubts, and would not like to dwell
In any Universe devoid of Justice.
I trust that there will be a place in Hell
For those whose deeds discomfit or disgust us.
C.B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden. Hundreds of his poems have appeared in scores of print and electronic journals out of North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Australia and India. His collection, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder was published in 2013 by White Violet Press.
Excellent, Mr. Anderson! I almost always find sentiment with intent worthy. And “cauliflower clouds” is brilliant. Thank you!
Beautiful use of your gardening and outdoor background to create “atmosphere” for your imagery, C.B.
These are wonderfully lucid and well-crafted quatrains that might otherwise have been a tedious religionist sermon on divinity, belief, salvation, and Hell. These come across as impishly funny, playful, undogmatic, and literary. K.A.N.D!