As God Slept
I found God asleep in my temple.
His shovel lain over a mound of dirty skin.
I never thought I'd see my maker yawn.
His breath was cold, and yet the wind he was making
scythed my face as if I were crumbling, in beautiful flames.
It was if it were some sort of natural reaction.
Like seeing a naked body for the first time.
My skin flushed. Pink, and somehow fresh- like a child’s.
He was wearing a 3 piece suit from the 1930’s Scat era.
His jacket was his pillow.
There was a small fire Smoldering beneath it.
I felt an urge to wake him.
To make sure that he didn't burn his face.
Yet, I immediately felt ashamed to think
that he didn't know it was there.
That he didn't put it there.
What am I thinking?
He is God, after all.
I sat down. Crossed my legs, like
an Indian would at the ledge of a mountain,
staring at the spirit inside the moon.
I gazed, lovingly. In awe, and reverence.
I watched the smoke enter his nostrils
and wondered what the fire was for.
I thought of all the reasons why I could see the smoke,
but I couldn’t smell it.
Maybe it was beyond my sense.
Perhaps I was meant to only see it-
because? ....Because? I just don’t know.
I sat there for days. Just watching.
I had forgotten to eat.
To sleep.
Water.
All of it.
All sources of energy.
Of self-preservation.
Protection.
They had all been replaced.
I was consumed by my God.
And a fire I couldn't see.
But the smoke...
-James Kelley 2017
Copyright © James Kelley | Year Posted 2018
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