My parents still dream that I will be a rabbi,
although it's been years since I last belived
in God. Like an optical illusion, one of those
rabbit-to-duck transformations, I one day decided
that my prayers were to nothing, the tradition
empty. My parents refuse to believe me,
interpret my atheism as a mistranslation
of my inner voice of God, respond
to my too-eager insistence with smiles
of understanding which prove they don't understand
Something about that last line feels lacking. I can't say quite what. I really like the rest of it, though. This idea that your disbelief in God is actually God divinely choosing not to believe in God is really complex and interesting. I think there's more there than just, "My parents don't get me." Unless the point is for you to come across as the one who doesn't understand. In which case, maybe it's doing what it's supposed to.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I sympathize a lot more with the idea that your parents have a deluded vision for your life that is just clearly not who you're going to be. But I still think there's more there than the last line gives credit for. Granted, I know, these are just rough drafts. I'd love to see a further draft of this.
agreed
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you're both right. I'll keep working on this one. Thanks!
ReplyDelete