I wrote this in 2015, and I believe I can hear a reaction to of all the hoopla preceeding a presidential election year. But I could have written this at any time in the last 30 years, when belief in God has been so publicly belittled as milksop for the weaklings who can’t handle life without it. We are because God is. We can choose not to believe it, but that doesn’t make it not true.

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What goes up
            must come down.
“That’s old school,”
            I say with a frown.
“I’m enlightened,
            so I’m not frightened
                        by your so-called truths.”

I can   defy,
           deny,
           justify,
                        but in the end
                        I must comply.

It is
             whether I believe it or not.

Right and Wrong,
Heaven and Hell,
Angels and Demons,
God and Satan
            only live in fairytales
                                  fantasies
                                  spooky stories told in the dark.

Those of us in the know:
            the educated,
            the sophisticated,
            the emancipated,
            the politically correct…
                        we’ve developed beyond
                        the simplistic fears
                        of the tales told in yester years.

“There are no devils or demons,”
            I say
                        as if with my words
                        spiritual worlds fade away.
“I can play with fire
            and not get burned.”
But despite my defiance,
            while my back is turned,
                        demons smile
                                    at my invitation
                                    and R.S.V.P
                                    with anticipation.

I can   defy,
            deny,
            justify,
                        but in the end
                        I must comply.

It is
            whether I believe it or not.