POEM
My God
Susan RolstonProtestants pray for grace,
Scientists look to space.
Jews find truth in the Torah,
New Agers, in each other's aura.
Catholics are blessed by a Pope,
Yaquis enlightened by dope.
Maoris use ritual chants,
Navahos get up and dance.
Muslims bow daily to Allah,
Norsemen aspire to Valhalla.
Feminists swear by a She,
Quakers swear not, silently.
Confucians kowtow to ancestors,
Hare Krishnas, to airport investors.
Hindus revere Lord Brahma,
Richard Gere, the Dalai Lama.
Baptists believe in the Ark,
Physicists, in the quark.
Moonies obey Reverend Sun,
Mormons say Brigham's the one.
Daoists extol yang and yin,
Sufis transcend in a spin.
Shintos seek peace where it's grassy,
Rastas, in Haile Selassie.
When we meet in the Afterlife,
We can laugh at sectarian strife.
But meanwhile back to the wars,
'Cause my God's better than yours.
Source: Poetry (August 2003).
This poem originally appeared in the August 2003 issue of Poetry.
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Susan Rolston graduated from Harvard and received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Before . . . MORE »
