I believe the earth
 exists, and
 in each minim mote
 of its dust the holy
 glow of thy candle.
 Thou
 unknown I know,
 thou spirit,
 giver,
 lover of making, of the
 wrought letter,
 wrought flower,
 iron, deed, dream.
 Dust of the earth,
 help thou my
 unbelief. Drift
 gray become gold, in the beam of
 vision. I believe with
 doubt. I doubt and
 interrupt my doubt with belief. Be,
 beloved, threatened world.
 Each minim
 mote.
 Not the poisonous
 luminescence forced
 out of its privacy,
 The sacred lock of its cell
 broken. No,
 the ordinary glow
 of common dust in ancient sunlight.
 Be, that I may believe. Amen.

This poem, “Opening Words”, by Denise Levertov, was pointed out to a friend, after I included a segment of “Goodbye to Tolerance” in my signature. I immediately fell in love with it, because it so thoroughly amplifies my own feelings on the nature of the Divine, and the world, and a peculiarly atheist form of spirituality. “I believe the earth” is something that should be a guidepost, a starting point. It exists, and we find “in each minim mote / of its dust the holy / glow of thy candle”. This is an ode to doubt, to belief and unbelief, to the world and its making and giving and creating…

.. and the phrase “each minim mote” is beautifully assonant.

The more I read of Ms. Levertov, the more I like her.

— Rob Bos