Transcending the Prophet’s Path
Dear Joseph Smith, of visions and valor,
Once I was a soldier, under your banner.
As a youth, I echoed your cause,
Your narrative moved me, gave me pause.
The 'First Vision,' to my eyes brought tears,
A testament that drowned out the world's jeers.
Through the corridors of school, your story I'd share,
A missionary's zeal, an unyielding glare.
Graduated high school, then traded cap and gown,
For a Mormon mission's far-flung crown.
Two years of my life, to the wind I cast,
For a faith I believed was vast.
But your own tale sparked a defiant flame,
Challenged the status quo, invited a game.
The more I questioned, the more I yearned,
To the pit of uncertainty, I turned.
What I had believed so fervently,
Became a narrative of complexity.
And by my mission’s end, I felt the sting,
Of truth claims that lost their ring.
Amid the hallowed halls of BYU,
An honest search for truth I pursued.
And what I found shattered my gaze,
The church's monopoly on truth began to haze.
For the teachings I held close to my heart,
Fell away, pulled apart.
My peers saw in me a defection,
A sinner's path, Satan's deception.
Isolated in a sea of faith,
I navigated the waves of wraith.
Your legacy, Smith, a double-edged sword,
Truth's seeker, yet a discord's chord.
For though you spurred my quest for truth,
You've also woven a painful ruth.
An outsider now, I wander and roam,
In the tribe I once called home.
Polite faces with words unsaid,
Their whispers echo in my head.
I feel the sting of quiet betrayal,
A child misled, set to fail.
Yet, despite it all, I hold no spite,
No disdain for your sacred rite.
For in its wake, it birthed a seeker,
A challenger, a truth speaker.
In this journey, fraught and wild,
From fervent missionary to the prodigal child,
I thank you, Smith, for your truth's pursuit,
Though your narrative, now, I refute.
No longer your soldier, no longer your kin,
A new path I forge, from within.
And as I walk, this truth I carry,
Your legacy, with me, will forever tarry.
