steeple
tower and temple
pass by
on left and right
flanked by the
snow-topped
Pennine hills
and the
infant Mersey

pastoring to
oft ageing
flocks
while the world
goes by
Christian
Hindu
Islamic faiths
all promise
the true way
but can
they all
be right
I ponder

is the divine spirit
so flexible
so post-modern
that each
is valid
to the other
as people are
seduced by hedonism
by moments now
not worlds to come

a Jewish cemetery
flashes by
as the train
plunges forth
I cross myself
the Orthodox way
no-one notices
perhaps
no-one cares

am I the fool
or they the foolish
hanging on to
archaic faiths
to lighten
the present darkness
one day
we will all
know
and what a surprise
that might be

03/12/2010