ET LUX ERAT
By Lucy Rutherford
Word count: 189
Rating: G
Summary: A poem describing the undeniable nature of God.
We went last week to an exposition
Or something of that sort
And heard a man who studied things
Like plants and old, dry bones.
Self-proclaimed prophet he
Who spoke for man, not God
And caught the world in tubes of glass
Denying all things without.
“The world is changing, fellow men,
And man is changing too:
Soon he will need no higher being
To soothe and calm his fears.
All superstitious, backwards rules
Will fade without a gasp
And we will rule supreme as gods
Accountable to only us.”
I thought most surely he would die
That man-god prophesier
But Heav’n stood silent except for the breeze
And the stars stayed in their place.
He raised a lightbulb – Lo, it shone! –
And claimed Enlightenment
Yet the rising sun drowned out his bulb
And far outdid his poor display.
“Then what’s the point of life or love,
And, tell me, did we make ourselves?
And what shall be the final price
Of mankind’s arrogance?”
He looked at me and dropped his jaw
And called me ignorant
But not a word could he reply
As church bells announced the dawn.