A Poem for the Epiphany

Here is a poem I wrote a few years ago. I seem to be a believer and disbeliever simultaneously!

Sudden Manifestation

On the Day of Three Kings, el Día de los Trés Reyes,

When my Puerto Rican friends feast on

Pasteles, platanos, and arroz con dulce,

I remember my Mother insisting that we keep

The tree up and the manger displayed until

Epiphany, January 6^th.

I have suddenly let go of my insistence on absolutes,

Let the stories be stories, the myths be myths

Rather than the truth the whole truth and nothing but—

I let the priest go through his rigamarole

(and rather enjoy much of it, the dress ups, the incense,

The candles, the music, the make believe)—

But the straw has broken the camel’s back

(who was, by the way, trying to get through

The eye of a needle),

And I can no longer believe that Jehovah commands Abraham

To slit his firstborn’s throat, and that the true God

Would have our enemies’ babies bashed against the rocks,

Or that the priesthood is just for men, excluding half the world.

The boys’ club is closed for me.

I still believe, but in a different way.

You might say I’ve had an

Epiphany.

                                                            Robert M. Coughlin

                                                                                January 6^th, 2013