Humanist Voices in Verse

This week’s featured poem is by Hank Rodgers. Hank is a retired trial court administrator and lives in Southern California. He is a lifetime humanist and longtime member of the American Humanist Association. You can reach him at hanrod1@aol.com.

If you’d like to contribute original poetry to Humanist Voices in Verse, write tohnn@americanhumanist.org with “Poetry” in the subject line. Please send no more than three poems forconsideration per week.

CATECHISM

We like you; some of our best friends are fools.
You’ve little to embrace, much to forbid;
It seems, alas, that you have made the rules.

Your storied faith all reason ridicules;
False-promise charlatans of quo for quid.
We like you; some of our best friends are fools.

Those rituals, the teachings of your schools,
Faith-justify the wrongs your dogma did;
It seems, alas, that you have made the rules.

Swindlers find the flaws in all our jewels;
When souls come up for sale you always bid.
We like you; some of our best friends are fools.

Your superstitions served as tyrant’s tools;
Behind your crescent, cross or star you hid.
It seems, alas, you always made the rules.

It’s time we put the sifter to the sieve;
We find no fault in faulting, being rid.
It’s time now that we made ourselves new rules;
We, like you. Some of our best friends are fools.