Poem For Easter-"God Has Filed His Change Of Address"
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
DEDICATED TO THE ABSOLUTELY SURE OF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING
FROM SOMEONE WHO ISNT (c) XristiM 1998-2006
Into their Lazarus mouths they pop
God like round peppermint lozenges,
and with their resurrected teeth
grind Him small,
roll the bits with their tongues,
flooding them with saliva and
the exhalations of digestion.
Then they amble forth
to perform the work for which
they have anointed themselves
and each other,
breathing the judgment of an angry God strongly
into the nostrils of others.
We can hear them at a distance,
from close enough can detect the stench
of self-righteousness.
And a wary eye can detect them in our midst,
with coats that show glossy fronts,
but on their backs,
hidden from their view
and from ours
unless we trouble ourselves to look,
reveal scraps and patches
like bandages over festering sores.
We may protest, draw back in distaste,
alarmed to have God thrust upon us
smelling so pungently of mint
and the charnel house,
but they are relentless in pursuit
of fleeing souls.
They paralyze us with their certainty
that God lives in their mouths.
For myself, I think the God has filed
His change of address:
He resides
not in the mouth, but in the heart.