Joe The Infidel Poem by Francis Duggan

The god fearing who do not know him well
Claim that to satan his soul he did sell
And that old Joe the infidel
For himself has booked a place in hell.

But all of those who know him better say
That old Joe goes out of his way
To help all those worse off than he
In his struggle against poverty.

He does not go to church to pray
And from the christian god he has turned away
But he is not a man of sin
And he nurture his god within.

Who better qualified to talk of Joe
Than the aged pensioner Annie Roe
She says the greatest man alive today
He mows my garden without pay.

An atheist with a heart of gold
He'll soon be sixty one years old
And the years on him now taking toll
But age not spoken of the soul.

And if there is a god beyond the sky
He'll say though me you did deny
You still lived well on earth I'll have you know
And I welcome you to heaven Joe.