I knock the ash from my cigarette
and smudge black upon my forehead
(even though it's Thursday)
Memento homo quia pulvis es
We are the religious with no religion
lost in the void between truth & untruth
zealous new converts baptized in the sacred Aganippe
et in pulverem reverteris 1
We've rubbed ink upon our doorposts and lintels
and lifted our prayers up to
logic & reason
Lasciate ogni speranza 2
For we are the Shadows fallen
between the boatman
and the judge.
1 Genesis 3:19; "Remember, man, that you are dust / and to dust you shall return"
2 Dante's Inferno, Canto III, line 9; "Abandon all hope"