"Uncertain Paradise" by Nina Kuriloff

I lay me down
but never to pray
my soul to keep.

My grandmother says
God's will be done
but the devil always walks among us-
so I don't get down with God
and otherworldly power struggles.

My atheist father
might be correct
there is a sameness to everything
he calls death's crisp abyss-
but I think he's wrong.

Nietzsche, Kafka, Sartre-
all of them may be right
about life, death, and God,
but I don't care.

What happens
when our eyes stop taking snapshots
when our fingers stiffen in rigor
I can't say.

But there is peace
in particles of light-
if you squint just the right way
there are pockets of paradise-

You can catch yourself in heaven
what it is and what it might be
ever-expanding.

There is victory in breathing
prayers are optional.
I will finally rest where lions laze
atop grassy graves
kindred spirits of stars
and sun, moon and
lamplight on the river.

For Joe Ferguson

Bio: Bridget Kelley-Lossada is a Los Angeles poet recently graduated from Antioch University's MFA program in creative writing. Her poems have been published in 51% and Inkwell. Besides poetry, she has a deep love for history. She makes a living teaching Ancient and Medieval History to middle school students in Pasadena.