September 27, 2019

My Journey to God

No Trespassing

It started with a line of stones,
Just to mark what’s mine and thine.
You added on some quartered logs
And tied them with some twine.
I didn’t like the looks of that,
So dug some post holes deep,
Attached the rails just high up
To give us “safer” sleep.
You found a brand-new kind of wire
With barbs that cut and shred.
Your cows could easily wander out;
“They might get lost,” you said.
I bought a sign — “No trespassing”.
You posted “Posted”, warned
That any person passing through
Would break the law, by darn!
We argued over water rights
And closed the common well.
Our shotguns kept us “safe” at night,
Protecting “ours” by hell!
And bigger guns and higher walls —
O God, where does it end?
If we could just remember when
We called each other “friend.”

By John Bahret
 

(The late John Bahret was a member of the former Holy Cross Parish in Indianapolis. His poem was submitted by Linda Hirsch, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis.)

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