i used to believe it was required of me
to look every horror in its face

to inquire of it
what made the evil at its heart

but after a long time in the company
of all the ways we have found
to destroy and harm and terrorize
all the life around us,
to kill and maim and betray

i realized there’s no need to be
so confused

whether god is revealed
within cathedrals
made of stone and glass
or datasets and matrix math

men are always inventing god
so that god can put men in charge
so that god can decide other people
                            aren’t as important
so that god can declare the world broken
so that god can tell the men to fix it
so that the men can feel free

to believe their desires fix the world

sooner or later
we will remember
seeds are not a metaphor—
not some elaborate lesson
designed to teach us a way forward

life creates more life
and if it cannot do that—