Martyrs of the faith

I suppose I should have added a note to this piece since it is ripe for misinterpretation.  It is not, dear friends, a lamentation of the effects of life/society upon the religious.  Rather, it is a lamentation of the effects of religion on all the rest.  Here, “faith,” is a reference to those who continue to strive for the greater good, not because it is a decree from on high, but because it is the worthy aim of their lives.  Religion has so permeated the highest levels of power in the United States and abroad that I would find it difficult to write a lament over its having lost anything (other than sight of its stated aim).

All that said, let me assure anyone reading this that people of all faiths, political persuasions and identities are welcome (encouraged actually) to read and discuss my writing.  I look forward to spirited commentary everyday and would be hypocritical if I didn’t explore various viewpoints.

One sad and slow
for the martyrs of
the faith,
us all.

A retread
of the trodden,
where wisdom
whistles its
low longing.

And the good
are forced
into order
with a march
maiming 
all their deeds.

They step too.
They step over.
They step on.

The martyrs of
the faith
are we.