a prayer
to the gods of the end of the world
by Antero Alli
O GOD OF THE END OF THE WORLD,
I am afraid to take you seriously; tell me you’re
only kidding,
blow my cover to expose my true feelings, make me laugh
at death without
forgetting
my mortality.
O
GODDESS OF BEAUTY IS BETTER THAN TRUTH,
I am embarrassed by my need to be right all the time.
Send me
your most gorgeous
dropdead image,
the Mother
of All Visions,
the vision that outgrows and destroys
all
other visions including itself,
so I can see through
myself when I am lying.
O WRATHFUL DEITIES OF DOOMSAYING
EVANGELICALS
& THE TEN THOUSAND DOGMATIC LITTLE BIGOTS,
I am bored to tears with my intolerances. Grant me
the enchantment
to be entertained by the
hidden pixie
agendas behind all dreary,
dismal grey-faced warnings
so I can stop taking myself
more seriously
than the
life I am actually living.
O
DEMIGOD OF POETIC TERRORISM,
I am utterly
and royally confused. Make me go crazy
in the name
of Creation,
not
Destruction,
so I may freely sabotage
the literalist virus immobilizing my imagination
and
learn to incite riots
in the minds asleep to your
splendor and glory.
O GODS & GODDESSES OF EVERYBODY’S HOLY
GUARDIAN ANGEL,
I am fucked up beyond all recognition. Trick me into
not knowing
whether I am really
a good person
or really
a bad person. Give me
the wisdom
to never believe
my own PR
and
what
other people
think of me,
no matter
how much money they pay me. Deepen my
gratitude for
being a nobody in an UnWorld
of wannabe somebodies
and hungry ghosts,
so I can be touched in the head
by your benevolence
and tell your truths
without wanting
the credit.
AHMEN & AH-WOMEN.
