Dear mama, I know my loss of religion scares you

How can it not? I know the way you were brought up

Granddaughter of a Chevalier of the Cross, true?

You cannot go a day without drinking the cup

Of the sacrements of Grace.

 

We were Eastern Orthodox before Catholic

And before that… Buddhist, Hindu, Jew, Jain, who knows…

The Church destroyed our past identity, septic

Cross, corrupted by the temporal power shows

Of the Renaisscant Holy See

Looking for Prester John

 

Look now, at the orgies in the Curia

Look now, at the abuse of children

Look now, at the emptiness of rituals

Whose meaning the priests have long forgot

Or perhaps never knew.

 

Dear mama, don’t despair, for I have not lost faith

I still seek Grace, communion, salvation, penance

Just without the priests as intermediaries.