An Agnostic's Prayer

WRITERS DIGEST
http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
We have been asked to write a prayer.

AN AGNOSTIC'S PRAYER

When I see a woman veiled

I feel as though she's truly jailed!

I feel such a deep-held empathy

That it's like a prayer inside of me.

*

Certainly, if it's their choice,

Women should be allowed a voice.

I defend with all my might

Her undeniable female right

To pick-out any sort of dress

That truly adds to her happiness.

If being covered head to toe,

Seems to her the right way to go,

Then I defend her right to be

As individual as me.

If she feels womanly and smart

I'm on her side, with all my heart.

And if she feels God has declared

That her face should not be bared,

Then, for her own deep satisfaction,

She should take the appropriate action.

*

But if she's actually suppressed,

Not free to choose the way she's dressed,

If she's commanded and brutalised,

The system should rightly be despised.

And how do we know, beneath the veil,

How many are frightened of the male?

How many girls who should be flowering

Are, under the wrappings, whimpering, cowering?

I admit the society of 'The West'

Is imperfect, but I don't feel oppressed.

*

How can an Agnostic pray?

(Isn't that what I hear you say?)

*

All I know is I really care

Enough for it to feel like prayer.

*

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SILENT SYMPHONY

A book, a stand, a clarinet,

But no-one's there to use them yet.

Left to itself an instrument

Is quite inert, with no intent.

The book is paper, nothing more

Although it may contain a score.

Awareness of music is not in these;

Their purpose isn't symphonies.

Clarinet, book and stand all wait

To meet the player that seals their fate.

*