The Grand Canyon

Dad thought Dave and I were going to hell,

since we had left his fundamentalist

God.  My brother sent me Bertrand Russell,

“Why I am NOT a Christian.”

                                       Atheist,

he–liberal Presbyterian, me–

stood at the rim and watched the rising sun/

paint all the colors far below.  “Maybe

there is a God…” Dave said.  But his was one

cry like “O God!” at orgasm, sincere,

but not a creed.  My faith was mixed with doubt.

              Before he died Dad told his own pastor

to preach to us, his sons, to call us out

at his funeral.  So “Just As I Am”

was played.  We never felt so far from him.

– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, September 16, 2012