My God, My God, Why Have I Forsaken You?

My God, my God, why have I forsaken you ?

I have turned from the path of certainty into the thicket of truth ;
I stumble in the mist of my own devising,
my mind is clouded with questions,
I can no longer cry out to you to save me,
and I am mocked by those who yet believe.

For I regarded you, O God, their idol,
and saw that you were merely words, woven from the thread of their desires,
And yet you comfort them, and I am alone.

I despised the contemplation of illusion ;
from imaginary heavens I turned my face,
from false visions of unearned salvation,
And yet they find hope, and I despair.

I saw the leaves fall and seasons pass,
and saw my own fate, and accepted it,
to live each moment for itself alone ;
Yet I am young, and fear to die.

I walked in the light of the noonday sun, and was not afraid,
But in the darkness death comes to me and whispers of the void.

In time of trouble I have no comfort ;
there is no-one to reassure me.

My God, my God, why have I forsaken you ?
( Neville Morley )

NEVILLE MORLEY is researching a PhD at Cambridge in the economy and society of the ancient city of Rome.