deluge i
the bird was a burden,
and so was wisdom,
although less importune,
until the rip tide
of silence
dragged words under,
and pilings of consciousness
collapsed
into the oblivion
of the unconscious.
gods begin
in amphibious feelings
lured from the infinite
by fading light,
the dew-like dust
on the memory
of what might have been.
meaning
grows molten
in the cold sun,
awakening angels
from forgotten heavens,
looking for nests
in the gray clouds.
but the bird continues to fly
in circles of abandonment,
screeching wisdom as it is swallowed
whole by the sky,
while the wind carries its corpse
toward the light.
there was no resting place
on the shadow
it cast on the water.
it hovered like a ghost,
waiting for christ
to teach it to walk on water.
deluge ii
god’s voice
dragged under,
having lost ultimacy.
unable to rest
their wings,
angels were ground down
by the sky,
and pulverized
into reckless light. .
the grayness spread
in a shroud of clouds,
more durable
than any light,
more ancient than darkness.
let the bird take
as many flights as it needs
to find new land,
and then to know
there is none,
only the everlasting bleakness
of abandonment
in the ark,
where it must live out
its days until
all life becomes extinct,
and the faith
men have lost
will return to god,
once again free
to experiment
with the emptiness
in search of his own fullness.
refreshed by the deluge,
he will nest
in the ruins of man,
and create beasts
more miraculous
than any angels,
but he will never again
create the human beast.
