Kathleen Raine: "I Believe Nothing"

I believe nothing—what need

Surrounded as I am with marvels of what is,

This familiar room, books, shabby carpet on the floor,

Autumn yellow jasmine, chrysanthemums, my mother's flower,

Earth-scent of memories, daily miracles,

Yet media-people ask, "Is there a God?"

What does the word mean

To the fish in his ocean, birds

In his skies, and stars?

I only know that when I turn in sleep

Into the invisible, it seems

I am upheld by love, and what seems is

Inexplicable here and now of joy and sorrow,

This inexhaustible, untidy world—

I would not have it otherwise.

"I Believe Nothing" by Kathleen Raine. Text as published in The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine (Counterpoint, 2001).  

Art credit: "Winter Chrysanthemums," oil on panel, by Kate Sammons.