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This writing was accepted for publication in the 96 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book... “a Rural Story” Down in the Dirt (v126) (the Nov./Dec. 2014 Issue) You can also order this 6"x9" issue as a paperback book:

Order this writing in the book What Must be Done (a Down in the Dirt July - Dec. 2014 collection book)		get the 372 page July - Dec. 2014 Down in the Dirt magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Belief

William Ogden Haynes

This morning he believes
that life will go on forever.
He just came out of the
sunrise service on Easter,
clean, renewed and right with the world.
He is in church clothes,
all communioned up
and assured of eternal life.
The sun warms his face
As he walks to the parking lot,
looking forward to watching
football in the afternoon.

But driving home, he sees the pulse beat
in his wrist as he grips the steering wheel.
And he realizes that life is just a bunch of
complicated biochemical reactions and electrical
impulses, no matter what you believe.
It can all end in an instant, like when a bug
gets stepped on, an artery becomes
just a little too narrow, a tumor metastasizes
or an airplane wing falls off in turbulence.

In his den, he watches the fat orange cat by the television
who lies on his back in a square of sunlight,
oblivious to the mysteries of heaven and biology.
Yet, there is the spark of life inside of him,
running on automatic pilot.
The furry belly rises and falls,
slowly and rhythmically,
just one stopped breath away
from a short trip
to a backyard hole
in a cardboard box.

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