Sonnet for an Unknown God – Acts 17

I saw an altar, nameless, cold, and bare,
With faded letters signed “The Unknown God.”
A feeling dark and lonesome lingered there,
A shadow of a faith unsure and flawed.
The other gods put claim to name and shrine,
Majestic in the grandeur they command.
Their temples rise in grace, designed divine,
Their altars calling – none could dare withstand.
I kneel, a fool, and whisper my thin prayer,
But weight descends and I can scarcely breathe.
I wish to live and find a breath of air,
And yet I seem to sense his rage beneath.
I pray to emptiness, though none replies,
As anguished, I reach up to vacant skies.

*****

This work was inspired by Acts 17, where Paul came to Athens and noticed an altar with the inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” This piece is a work of fiction, set before Paul’s visit, taking place in the mind of an Athenian who is in serious doubt of the gods that he has grown up with.