Putting Away the Toys

I prayed, lit candles,
Insisted our apartment
Suffer some of the milder indignities
Called for by the sons of Abraham.

For a year after my bar mitzvah
I genuflected, vowed obeisance
To he “Who could not be named”

My folks, secular Jews,
Who attended services 3 times a year,
Tolerated this errant behavior
In the belief that it would pass.

They were right.
I decided I did not believe,
Concluded that my Friday night rituals were insincere.
I put away that toy.

Perhaps that marked my emancipation?
I’ve not had refuge from the tyranny
Of an unplanned universe,
Where” evolution” means only “change”.

No more do I express empathy or sympathy
For the believers,
Finding them far too righteous,
Manifesting an arrogance and ignorance
That transcends and refigures the “minds I”.

I did not lose religion, I rejected it.
Not so, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy,
And America’s promise --
These are gone and I’m the poorer for the loss.