Humanism, What’s That? by Helen Bennett (which I reviewed yesterday) has a poetry section near the end.  The poems won’t move you to tears, and they are blunt in some cases (i.e., “I’m Glad I’m Not a Bigot”), but the poems convey the sentiments of the book.

Probably the best poem is called “Thank You, Life.”  This is the second stanza:

Thank you, Life,
For swings to swing,
For games to play,
For everything.
And when I’m grown
I know I’ll be
Thankful still
That I am me.

I find the capitalization of the word “life” to be curious.  It appears to be an alternative to a thankful prayer; “God” could easily stand in for “Life.”  But you can’t just throw in a placeholder for God and call it Humanist.  So, why capitalize?

I don’t have an answer, but it is an interesting question, don’t you think?

Today’s Poetry Friday roundup is at Picture Book of the Day.

[ Posted in » Poetry Friday ]