Exhortation Poem by RIC BASTASA

i dare not talk
something bad about

Siddhartha
or Jesus
or Mohammad

what they did
when they suffered and
sacrificed

we cannot fathom
since we were not there
in the first place in
their own time and
place

their steps and
ends

they deserve
what respect time had
given them

never had i felt
that sense that i can be greater
by saying
that they lied or
that they are never
true

or that possibly
they could have
said otherwise

or that
they are not
existing anymore

or once
existed as you
tried to imply
in your last
line.

whether we like it or not
God is there
and does
not change

it is this immutability of
this belief
that keeps me going
and going

though i am not certain
why and where.