Hell, To Be An Atheist! Poem by Murali Sappa

Young and impressionable, brain still a dry sponge,
You followed those before you
To a church, mosque, or a temple,
Or where ever your faith has called for.

You had a shoulder to lean on in troubled times.
When you wavered on your path,
You returned to the embrace of your faith;
Cleansing yourself with repentance.

Suddenly, one day you realize -
It is you who created the God;
Hell comes lose, innocence lost;
Out - of your safety blanket,
You stare into the void, alone;
There is no longer a power to back on.

No longer, there is a God for you,
But you long for one.
You don't care for the ghosts either,
But still midnight chills wake you up.

Being an atheist is a one way road,
There is no turning back indeed,
For faith is not built on logic.
Once lost, it can't be redeemed.

You go agnostic,
You can't explain the origins,
But neither could science nor religions.
The almighty you come up with
Is just a map hung on the wall
You still have to chalk out the path,
The crutch is gone, curse is on
You limp through the course, alone.
There is no heaven after the fence,
Your travails are the only real ones -
Brother, aren't you already in the Hell!

This glorious accident called life
Has an end and no other beginnings.
You don't need a religion or a faith to help those in need,
For it is not right to fill the only life they had with plight.
Had there been a God, you would have taken him to the task,
But now it is your task to undo this wrong.

A silver lining - for your taking, to hell you are not going;
Or heaven, for that matter, as you don't believe in one.
Even if you are wrong, and end up in the hell,
You don't care, for you are already in one.
Or maybe, heaven is at your door steps
For you never hated a person
For being a Hindu, Muslim, Jew, or a Christian
You always helped others
And stood up for your actions.