Convinced by the Kentish mission, Coifi contrived
To hurl his spear hard into Woden’s wooden heart.
Idols don’t flinch, of course, even when they’ve deceived
Generations. God dies! Another takes the part.
Gagarin looked from the limits of his portholes
All around the world. No God troubled his inspection,
Only darkness punctuated by stars, like shimmering souls,
Lost as he was looking in the wrong direction.
In an absence of God it is necessary
Not to invent Him. When it comes to devotion
To creation’s supreme-being, Man’s more likely
To indulge a preference for self-promotion.
From spear onto rocket, how far has man advanced?
Yet reason doesn’t allow deity to be lanced.
Dave Alton
