Now, that title is an attention-grabber, thank you very much! It came to me while writing a new column on public praying, and finding this poem I wrote last year.
Read from the TOP, it’s a statement of Faith.
Read from the BOTTOM, it’s a statement of Freethought.
All a matter of perspective.
The ups and downs of the beliefs that divide us, yet hint at the fact we share the same world. . .
“Perspective (ups and downs)”
God is there
So please don’t tell me
There’s nothing greater than Nature
I don’t see why someone can’t see
The universe is a wondrous mystery
Others think science and reason are the way
While believers say “believe, trust and pray”
Faith points above, behind, beyond
While there’s suffering, darkness, despair and death
I seek for wisdom, what is true and right and good
I wonder at the incredible Beauty of it all
The rivers and forests and oceans
The smallest creatures, the highest mountains
The stars and suns, planets and moons
Because when I consider this amazing world
How could I say there is no Creator?
{Now read bottom up}
Chris Highland
2021
Friendly Freethinker 
That was awesome! Well done! I like bottom up, by the way!
Good to hear. . .and, bottom’s up!
Chris, Fascinating! Great poem. As a sometime poet myself, I am curious, (if you don’t mind sharing), did you achieve the paradoxical nature of the poem’s meanings by rational planning, or did the poem come to you all of a sudden from your creative inspiration. I’ve written both sorts of poem, ones via by calculation and others y sudden inspiration.
Thanks, Daniel, yes I tried to craft it this way. I first got the idea from this clever, and meaningful, poem:
“Pretty Ugly”
I’m very ugly
So don’t try to convince me that
I’m a very beautiful person
Because at the end of the day
I hate myself in every single way
And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying
There is beauty inside of me that matters
So rest assured I will remind myself
That I am a worthless, terrible person
And nothing you say will make me believe
I still deserve love
Because no matter what
I am not good enough to be loved
And I am in no position to believe that
Beauty does exist within me
Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
Am I as ugly as people say?
(Now read bottom up)
by Abdullah Shoaib
Thanks for sharing this, also, intriguing poem by Shoaib.