Tale of The Civilized Religion

They call it life
They call it living
They call it…

Do you know?

They call it ‘custom’
They call it ‘norm’
They call it ‘ritual’

Then they think
They can call it
RELIGION

They love to abide
By it…
They love to force you to
Abide by it…

Is it for you?
Is it for your benefit?
Is it for your existence?

Or it is because they
Want you to kneel
Before their desire?

Is bowing to the Master’s desire
RELIGION?

What and who is the
MASTER?

Is it time?
Is it power?
Is it the mother
Of all creation?

Or is it as THEY
See it, the time
Of
DEVOURING?
The time when religion
Is eaten up by time
Destined to destroy?

Is there a clash of times?
Is there a clash of civilization?
Or is it just a clash among
Inhuman interests?

Is religion a craft, chiseled
Out of time’s cupboard
By men who can
Command men to die?

Or is religion an art
Taken out of Man’s
Inner soul
To help Man live
Ever after?

A fairy-tale existence trampled
By the power of Men
Desirous to subjugate
Civilization to the will
Of creatures masquerading
As Men, wise, powerful.

Is that what RELIGION
TODAY means?

Pranab Ghosh is a journalist, writer, poet, translator and blogger. His blog is “Existential Problems”. His poems and prose have been published by several on=line publications including Dissident Voice, Spillwords, The Piker Press, Setu Magazine, Pangolin Review, Visual Verse, etc. Pranab has coauthored a book of poems, titled Air & Age; a translation of a book of Bengali short stories, “Bougainvillea and Other Stories” (English translation title). His second book of poems and first solo book, “Soul Searching and Other Poems” (2017), was published by Scarlet Leaf Publishing, Toronto. His second collection of poems, “Vision of the World and Other Poems”, was published by Impspired.com in November 2020. Read other articles by Pranab.