I do not take upon myself the fate of the Other
Out of duty or
Legal obligation
Or to gain a sense of self-satisfaction

Because reasoned argument commends it
Or theocratic decree demands it

I live, and learn through experience

Nor do I give your suffering meaning
By sharing your pain
Implicating injustice in a grand plan
Blaming humanity’s crimes on The Creator

I look on, and scream in silence

Nor do I imagine you to be
By your presence
A fragment of Merciful essence

And my acts a ritual of prostration before
Your purifying lamp

I am real, and worship in secret

My love
Is above laws, reason, duty, even being

Inimitable, transcendent

Wholly unneeded
Yet absolutely necessary