Oh Rick, if only things were so simple. . . . If only there were Nazis shooting children, bullies like Major Strasser waiting to take over, women like Ilsa -- so beautiful and passionate that just the memory of their love, just the shadow, is enough. We would sing the Marseillaise and in the air itself, just breathing in that hot, dry air, would find all the meaning we need.
But we live in an everyday world, with everyday human beings. And we must start again each morning, with scraps of faith and feeling, to make the world's meaning in the foundry of our heart.
Hear Lucius/Jerry read the poem at humanist-art.org/old-site/audio/SoF_100_casablanca.MP3 . This poem is part of the Scraps of Faith collection of poems ( https://humanist-art.org/scrapsoffaith.htm )