Just Let Man Become My Religion

Just let man become my religion now; Man, with all his hopeless dreams Still sustaining him through the gamut of drought and famine. Man, with his ultimate sorrowing forgiveness, Whether through disenfranchisement or forgetfulness. Man, with his long memory of childhood And short remembrance of his own old age. Man, with his miraculous intelligence and empathy- I can live without creed as long as you are with me, mankind For the embrace concealed within the black pincer of your eye is contagious; Even though I were without desire, in this ancient world of worlds. Your mere shadow could awaken within me compassion; And your abiding presence assures me that solitude will never triumph, As long as you are near. And without our fellows beside us, Eternal life would be known as the eternal curse. And because you must in time come to an end, I can accept even death; For if you go ahead of me, I know that you will be waiting for me even there. And that takes all the sting out, even though death Will always be the awful master of this world.