The Agnostic

“Fie, honest friend! what folly to prepare 
   For some hereafter utterly unknown!"
   "Well, dear Agnostic, were it faith alone 
That prompts the thought, it were no idle care.
I find you packing for some distant where,
   While by your farmer the fall wheat is sown;
   And here, I see, are certain bonds you own,
Due Nineteen-hundred-twenty. Can you swear
The ship will go, wheat grow, and bonds mature?"
   "Why, n-o,—not strictly; but of course we must 
   Take all our stock in 'futures' upon trust."
"Exactly, friend, and that makes life secure!
   Faith, and not knowledge, prompts your every deed;
   And, since you live by faith, just put it in your creed!"