“And it came to pass… the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.”

4 Nephi 1:2 in the Book of Mormon

There will be burn-free days of sunshine, even
years, when happiness spreads exceedingly
virulent—

the trance of supposing everyone is on
your side.

There will be days when grandkids embellish the past,
laughing at Pilate washing his hands as his wife
counts to “…twenty Mississippi.”

So believe that sometimes there are good days,
good weeks, hot streaks.

Are they postludes? Interludes? Preludes
to the smallest of revolts turned new eras? Or

a gospel for fools—the object and design
of grandparents and gold chasers?

And when the -lude ends, so begins a new
unity, where all are alike in enmity.
There will be streaks.

Poet’s Notes:

This is the latest in my Keystone Reflections series, an agnostic revisiting of the Book of Mormon. Try these other installments:

This post’s featured image is licensed from iStock. Credit: manonallard.