theophiliacs

Dia de los Muertos,

Scholars say, pre-dates Christianity;

Joyous caladeras dancing in the streets,

Cemeteries decorated in marigolds.

All scholars have are books. 

[2]

Make no mistake.

It was a shrewd imperial power play

That aligned All Saint’s Day

To so many pagan holidays.

[3]

Atheists are fond of imagining

The Resurrection to be a zombie infestation;

A classic Halloween costume,

A tired B-movie,

Superimposed on ancient belief.

[4]

We all are searching for a way

To deal with mortality.

Blessed be that holy trinity

Physics, Chemistry, and Biology

Save us now, and in the hour of our death.

[5]

A Mexican saying goes:

“In a hundred years we will all be skeletons.

In a thousand years we will still be skeletons.”

How can a scientist be so sure?

But, I do believe in a thousand years

Of dancing in the streets.

[6]

We are still searching for a way

To face the hour of our death.

I’ll settle on the Resurrection (and candy skulls)

Over Holy Father Science any day.

[7]

Make no mistake.

God loves the old switcher-roo.

Now is when Zombies stalk the earth;

But when graves break open,

When justice and peace roll down,

When the Great Contradiction

Overcomes the logic of death,

That will be a day for the living.