Sunday, August 25, 2019

YHWH's Image

'Poem for the week' -- “YHWH's Image”:

And YHWH sat in the dust, bone weary after
days of strenuous making, during which He,
now and again, would pause to consider the
way things were shaping up.  Time also would
pause upon these strange durations; it would
lean back on its haunches, close its marble
eyes, appear to doze.

But then YHWH Himself finally sat on the
dewy lawn—the first stage of his work all but
finished—He took in a great breath laced with
all lush odors of creation.  It made him almost
 giddy.

As He exhaled, a sigh and sweet mist spread out
from him, settling over the earth.  In that
obscurity, YHWH sat for an appalling interval,
so extreme that even Time opened its eyes, and
once, despite itself, let its tail twitch.  Then
YHWH lay back, running His hands over the
damp grasses, and in deep contemplation
reached into the soil, lifting great handsful of
trembling clay to His lips, which parted to
avail another breath.

With this clay He began to coat His shins,
cover His thighs, His chest.  He continued this
layering, and, when He had been wholly
interred, He parted the clay at His side, and
retreated from it, leaving the image of Himself
to wander in what remained of that early
morning mist.

-- Scott Cairns, Recovered Body: Poems

God is in us.