Why On Earth?

I do my best
to abstain from
the ligatures
of Religion

when I choose
whether to listen to
David Byrne or
The Neville Brothers,
whether to watch
my favorite
Brit detective series or
that George Carlin documentary,
whether to make
pizza or burritos tonight,
whether to day trip
to hike Mt. Walker or
night trip to
the Spotted Cat,
on Frenchmen Street,
on a retreat to
New Orleans.

No priests or
holy books
are consulted when
I choose what fiction
I’ll take with me to
Better Living Through Coffee,
the better to read my way
into The Mystery.

Why on earth,
when The Mystery
tells the bouncer
to let me in,
would I imagine
the thing to do is
get Religion?

(Photo by Andrew Seaman; UnSplash)