Life of Pi [Found Poem]

Doubt as a philosophy of life

Is akin to choosing immobility

As a means of transportation.

I have been a Hindu all my life,

But we should not cling!

 I entered the Church.

Islam followed right behind,

And the mosque was truly an open construction,

Open to God and to breeze.

Hindus, in their capacity for love,

Are indeed hairless Christians,

Just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything,

Are bearded Hindus,

And Christians, in their devotion to God,

Are hat-wearing Muslims.

People move in the hope of a better life.

 It was announced to us one night during dinner:

Canada!

We left. Things didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to,

But what can you do?

“Canada, here I come!”

The ship sank.

I was alone and orphaned in the middle of the Pacific,

Hanging onto an oar,

An adult tiger in front of me,

Sharks beneath me,

A storm raging about me.

I mumbled words of a Muslim prayer and went to sleep.

It was natural that, in light of bereft and desperate as I was,

In the throes of unremitting suffering,

I should turn to God.

When we reached land, Mexico to be exact,

I was so weak I barely had the strength to be happy about it.

The beach, so soft, firm, and vast, was like the cheek of God,

And somewhere two eyes glittering with pleasure

And a mouth was smiling at having me there…

Love is hard to believe, ask any lover.

Science is hard to believe, ask any scientist.

God is hard to believe, ask any believer.

But doubt as a philosophy of life

Is akin to choosing immobility

As a means of transportation.