The Children of the Fuke

I don't usually write poetry but there have been times when verses have sprang into my head and I jot them down. I recently uncovered a cache of these from around my high school years and found an interesting item that expressed how I felt at the time. I was surprised by the date as I thought I didn't begin thinking about a life philosophy until years later. Reading it, I realized that even at 18 years old I knew I wasn't going to follow any established religion and felt that I was totally in control and responsible for whatever happened in my life. The title is a reference to my cousin who had taken the nickname The Fuke. The name comes from a Cheech and Chong movie called The Corsican Brothers set during the French Revolution with an evil antagonist called The Fuckaire. My cousin protested this moniker for a long time (I think because his brother gave it to him) but seemed to gradual accept the abbreviated Fuke (I think because we wouldn't stop using it). I always admired my cousin; not so much for his actions, which could be pretty lowdown, but for the fact that he lived his life by his own rules and never apologized for anything (more than a few of us are still waiting on one). No one had the authority to tell him what to do and he set his own boundaries (which were few). I was applying that attitude to religion when I named this poem in an attempt to express that I feel no person, god, or religion has any authority over me.

The Children of the Fuke
Sometimes I think on
The fool that I was
Because I know life
And life knows because
You can't see every turn of the path
Every twist
And sometimes I wonder
Was that the "Right Path" I missed?

But it's not in us
To think or to question
We are taught to live by
The Lord's One True Lesson
But I stand aside and say
"I will not be lead!
I'll write my own life's story,
And I'll die when I'm dead."
David Ege, 1992