Comes A Doubter... Poem by John Tansey

Nonbeliever


If one you should know
Is felled by a deep grief
Into a black hole of depression,
And you, armed with clichés,
Come to console, relieve,
Before you open your mouth,
Know this:
That, in the absence of the right words,
Silence will suit the situation well.

Like the wearing of basic black
For all formal affairs and funerals,
It is proper,
always in style
and goes with any occasion.

Just ask the petitioners of God
Who, all too well, know:
It is through the long terrible silence
Of unanswered prayers
Made under the duress of the dark,

That we, too late, learn to survive this life on our own…



9.24.8 John Tansey