Untermeyer, Louis (1885-1977)
Louis Untermeyer was an American poet, editor, anthologist and critic. He was known for his wit and love of puns. However, he was also controversial for his apparent flirtation with Marxism in the fifties, and was blacklisted by the television industry when one of the programmes he appeared in was picketed. His edited anthologies are widely read by students. My prompt for today is his poem Prayer.
Parent, Intervene NOW!
The thing
is I never felt the need
to clasp
my hands and bend my knee
in the
manner that priests decreed:
if You are
there, You’ll let me be;
and if You’re
not, then what’s the use
to make a
show of beads and bells?
it doesn’t
matter – win or lose;
the
playing counts, and nothing else.
Life is unfair,
and faith or verse
can be a
blade to slice it fine.
Who’s to
say what’s better or worse -
an ancient
hymn or faithless line?
I really
have no argument
with those
who ply conch and incense;
You'll know if You're omniscient,
empty rituals make no sense.
If You’re
there, You know my heart
and all of
its well kept secrets:
its yearnings for beauty; where its scarred,
where it’s
home and where it frets;
and how it
wants to play the game,
and when
it wants to play truant.
Why should
I have to chant Your name
and spell
out loud what I might want?
If I’m
Your child, then what parent
would want
me to cringe and submit?
Pray, light
a flame and complement
with
fearfulness, and that is it?
I’d rather
You did not exist
than
believe You’re petty and mean,
and crush
us with such steely fists
of hollow
ritual and routine.
Where is
Your justice and Your grace?
Your
children burn each other alive,
torture in
unspeakable ways,
Why do You
let such evil thrive?
You turn
Your face, shut Your three eyes
because
the evil doers profess
a
different path, and paradise;
But
they’re Your offspring nonetheless.
A human
parent’s limited view,
small love
and fairness still compel
her
to act without further ado
anytime her children quarrel.
Yet You of
monumental Love
let Your
children annihilate
each other
without one shred of
regret at
this quadrille of hate.
Excuse me
if I can’t believe
in a
Parent who’s this unmoved;
never stops the wars, nor weeps nor grieves.
I’d rather
doubt. And I disapprove.
Back where I come from, since the
Charlie Hebdo attacks, there has been much discussion regarding freedom of
expression. An Indian author has been forced to retract his words because
he depicted certain religious rites which were perceived as negative, although
the rites are a historical fact. A few years ago, a well known artist was
forced into exile because he depicted certain deities in the nude. Do you think
editors/writers/artists should temper freedom with responsibility and
discretion? Or should they be free to write/paint as they please and ignore the
possible consequences?
Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2015
