Ahriman wins

Like many of the Psalms of lament in the Bible, this poem combines disillusionment and hope. Rather than the psalm format, though, I have chosen  to locate it in the pre-Jewish myths of Zoroastrianism. 

Ahura Mazda kneels in the sand

Patiently building a castle. 

Grain by grain it rises. 

Towers of trust.

Gates of welcome. 

Living spaces lit with laughter. 

Banquet halls full of sharing. 

Ahriman watches and waits. 

Ahriman knows 

that a single stomp 

can reduce the castle to rubble. 

Ahriman knows that

Ahriman always wins. 

It takes only one virus

To launch an epidemic.

One acid tongue

To poison a community punchbowl. 

One gnawing discontent

to nibble away at a statue’s ankles 

‘til even a Colossus comes crashing down. 

Ahriman gloats.  

When everyone can be an enemy to someone, 

Ahriman always wins.

Ahura Mazda kneels in the sand

Patiently building another castle….

By Jim Taylor, October 2018