Gracious Lord, Good Mountain

A book my eyes did see
Lying under glass
Written out by hand
By sages ages past.

Another book did lie
Across the hall from it,
Though size and shape the same,
By printing press 'twas writ.

From Mainz both texts did fly
Across the salty sea,
And now they both do lie
In Washington, D. C.

The power in these books
Did light the world on fire,
Fueling Einstein's bomb,
Jolting Tesla's wire.

The conflagration spreads
With unrelenting heat,
Blazing through the lands,
Burning chaff from wheat.

Will on this funeral pyre,
Both ancient texts be thrown?
Has God, his time expired,
Been buried in his tomb?

Reason says, "Look now,
"To Science give your heart.
"Be ruled not by folk tales.
"From myths of men depart."

"These books were made by men,
"As Athena's temple was,
"Abandoned to the Turks
"And crumbling into dust."

"Like Tutankhamun's tomb,
"Have emptied out their store,
"And ancient stones in sand
"Pay heed to gods no more."

"As Gilgamesh had built
"A house for his Inanna
"So have these books been spent
"Now emptied of their manna."

And now these books do lie,
In temple built by men
To new gods made of words
To whom our knees now bend.

Justice, Freedom, Law
Do break upon our backs.
Like bombs from drones that fall
On temples in Iraq.

These books, these empty books,
That lie beneath this glass,
Have no god left to serve
But man, who faith now lacks.