Let’s trouble gods and / Keep them in their places

Let’s trouble gods and
Keep them in their places—
Let’s ask them for
Uncomplicated things—

Let’s bother them with prayers
Unnecessary—
Let’s all distract them
With our tiny needs—

There are so many of them
In the heavens—
And twice as many
Dwell beneath our feet—

They sit there in the everlasting
Boredom—
They suffer in the everlasting
Heat —

I pity them in their
Eternal Sunshine—
I weep for them in their
Eternal Flame—

Let’s ask them for
An awkward-worded favor—
Let’s genuflect and kneel
and bow our heads—

For they ignore us
While we go on living—
And punish us as soon as
We are dead—