They Try to Approach

They try to approach with explosives
but the Throne of Allah stays

implacably still

radiating its concern

The silence of the sky is not His
lack of articulation

but one of the salient features
of His Speech

If a window goes up and
someone leans out

where before there was no one
does that mean that until then the

building was empty?

I want a river of jubilation
and the camel driver’s

endless song

Storming heaven was
never a good idea

A mother suckling her young
knows the truth of its intimate

location
be it human woman or doe

on her nest of pine needles on a
forest floor

They try to rattle the windows when
no one’s there with

hand grenades

But He Who Sees it all in one glance
has already nodded His approval or

displeasure before the
dust settles

and the pain that rips through the
human body

is the harsh song of God’s rebuke

Come

Approach it as you would
a stern superior

and watch love’s waters
flood toward you

---

2/11/12 (from The Match that Becomes a Conflagration)

Categories: Poems