Agnostic Acrostic, and vice versa

A few days ago I had a dozen index cards, a pen, and an hour till the Sun would damage flesh in the Valley not so much. So I spent that hour, maybe a bit more, putting the bare beginnings of acrostic poems on those cards. This is one of them.

“Agnostic Acrostic.” This poem does not claim any insight into the nature of God-if-any. Its author does not think of himself as an Agnostic, nor a Gnostic, nor an Atheist. I once wrote “why i am not an anything” and believed it were so. Now I think of myself as a Glimmer, i.e. “one who glims.” I hope to fully explore–and explain–what that means before my time ends.

This page would not exist if not for my former classmate and lifelong friend Terry Irwin. It was she who told me about “Slow Knowledge,” which if my recollection serves is the projection of the effect on an action taken by a tribe on descendants up to the 7th generation. If the action was deemed of probable detriment to those descendants, the action was not taken, no matter what immediate good came from it. My phrase “slow wisdom” in this poem derives from this, and my poem cannot do without it. 

So, Terry, many thanks. This blog post is dedicated to you and the fine work done by you and your design collaborators.

This page also owes something to Rachel Carson, who warned us of what happens when we fool with Mother Nature. For more details, please see “Rachel Carson, Speaker for the Silent” elsewhere in this blog.

Agnostic Acrostic

Arming ourselves against bedbug & flea
Could lead to Brave New World‘s Streptocock-G
Ringing a change from peut-être to mais NON
Ogles the boggles and ROCKS Status Quo
Slowing our roll and our role in this mess
Takes the Slow Wisdom approach–we’d be blest
If God-notions don’t squeeze us dry–o terrific–I
Could harbor hope if we DON’T wax Deific

So–what does Agnosticism have to do with “this mess”? Relying less on “thoughts and prayers” and more on the wisdom of forethought can both ease future messes and help heal current ones. That’s this humble Glimmer’s opinion, anyway.

One more acknowledgment: Thank you to the quite youthful, peach-fuzzed Bob Dylan who wrote “With God On Our Side.” Bobby, you were wise beyond your years.