A vital forfeiture

A vital forfeiture

Gain heaven by losing your faith -
in the brief, the conjectural,

the untrustworthy pursuits
to which you habitually pledge your life.

To reach out to God (the teachings suggest)
you must first cut off your hands.

To embrace Him, you must
sever your arms at the shoulder.

Love and life eternal
entail a vital forfeiture,

a timely, incremental
and unmourned death.

Drown in the river by ceasing
to grab hold of the opportune

flotsam and jetsam you judge
to be exactly what you lack;

which you pray will keep you afloat
until that fabled salvation drifts within arm's length.

O child of God, gain heaven by losing faith
in everything but God.

                         (Unpublished)