All we need of God

is already within us,

so why go without?


A deity is most devout

when dying grievances are dire:

the fallow fields of shallow doubt

to deeply flood with fickle fire,

their unborn blossoms budding higher;

the honest urge, the hidden force

beneath the burning water's source

that cleanly streaks the witness wall

behind its noble, tumbling course;

and while the Knight has miles to fall,

to strike the truest Heart of All

the squire holds aloft His lance;

and, by such smolderings of chance,

lay-servants take their lords to task;

what heathen priestesses advance

the pious idols may not ask—

is God a mirror or a mask?


-commonly credited to Saint Anna Tabatha Olaythe