Lost God
“like the gods whose powers fade as they are carted off
from their landscapes and dialects and universalized”
~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 13
When God becomes too universal, he
Is lost. He fades, Narcissus on a pool
Too broad. A fuzziness takes over. Sea
And the ocean is too wide. Devotion’s rule
Says, “Be accessible to tender parts,
Not Andes ones.” A god of justice who
Has only punishments makes scarred up hearts.
A god of rightness is a cobalt blue
Too hard and dark to focus on. To own
Him sinners have to hear a breathing voice,
A dialect they recognize, a tone
Backed up by touch. Then pilgrims can rejoice.
We need to give him shoulders with a reach.
He needs to speak. He needs to span a breach.