Absent Malice

An undercurrent of duress

An emptiness that soothes us not,

One cannot say that we regress

But essential things we have forgot

And religion holds no soothing balm

To the wounded spirit in distress.

Lacking will and lacking calm

Alone in an age of nothingness

A senseless round seems our lot.

Commitment and a willingness

A time to seek and reassess

And find again why we are here

Absent malice, absent fear.