Wednesday, April 6, 2016

A HIGHER POWER

You admitted 
to me—heaven might not
be real

but suggested it wasn't quite
an illusion either.
You could agree

it was
tricky and weird,
like sunset—really happening 

on some factual level,
but not how we imagine. 
Or, like a float 

in some sunblinded 
and long late-
afternoon parade—functionally empty

but resplendently 
full of its own light—
and perfect-

ly engineered 
to illuminate 
its own context.

You tried to propose—that God too
was 
at least, maybe

a constructive
pastime,
like baseball.

a life-preserving
metaphor,
like traffic signals.

A serviceable 
riddle,
like hiccups.

A convenient 
answer,
like yes-sir.

You asked—couldn't I at least 
respect
some clever marketing?

I thought 
and said—yes, 
I had a lot 

of respect
for just that 
sort of capacity;

so much,
in fact,
that there wasn't

a ton of room left—
for any 
kind of hierarchy.