An Excellent Poem

Come walk away from the ancestral waters.
Their depths lie in darkness; rise up from the bay.
For faith that surrounds us can now only drown us.
We cannot stay; come walk away.

Come walk away from the tales of our childhood,
From Eden's four rivers and God's seventh day.
A continent rises which we must discover.
Dare feel the clay; come walk away.

Come walk away from the old persecutions,
From cross and from rack and from auto-da-fe.
Come up to the sunlight and air of free reason.
The torrents slay; come walk away.

Come walk away from the pond where we started.
The old bog grows heavy and yields to decay.
It sheltered us once, and we've always remembered
Our yesterday -- but walked away.

-Gary McGath