Friday, May 15, 2009

Where is God now?

My father said:
God is in Sari Kamish
Fastening happiness to the tops of
double ladders
So that people and nations can ascend and descend.
In the evenings
He sat outside and looked at the stars.
Nothing disturbed his inner peace
So long as there was bread
And quiet for meditation.

I wished with all my heart
To be such as I knew him to
his old age.

Where is God now?
On Rue des Colonels
sit in the attitude he taught me
An old man
In my ears the sounds of children's voices
Monsieur Bon Bon
Feeling the sun warm
The ruin of my body
I breathe God
In and out.

Pierce Butler
writer-in-residence
Bentley University