The Reason Why I Like Cooking for You

I cook for you because you believe.

You love God so much I’m certain you’ll be fast-tracked

   into Heaven.

There will probably be a special place reserved

just for you, where you can carry on doing all the things you love:

seeds and pots to grow your herbs;

a disco ball so you can dance on Saturday nights;

a hill overlooking an ocean for you to climb

and a beach where a little man will look up and wave

   and tell you that he loves you.

As for a non-believer like me, well – what hope is there ?

All those years doing drugs, making a right old inglorious mess of my life.

You always tell me your God is merciful -

your ‘big guy upstairs’ (yes, you’re certain God is male. I wonder why ?)

Perhaps, then, you can ask God to cast his mercy upon me

and not pack me off to the other place.

After all, I did cook you all those meals.

Of course, he won’t give me special heavenly treats like you,

   his No 1 believer.

He’ll probably put me somewhere out of the way – in a small

   dark cave without fire.

If I keep cooking for you he might even go further

and throw in an old typewriter

along with a few sheets of A4 paper

so I might continue writing my poems that nobody ever reads.

I’d be happy with all that. I won’t need much in the afterlife.

And if I’m allowed, once in a while, to step out of the cave

onto the beach to wave and tell you that I love you

that would suit me just fine.

So, you see, you’re my get out of jail card.

You’re my Pascal’s Wager on steroids.

I can go on living a life of sinfulness until my heart’s content.

That’s the reason why I like cooking for you.