Exodus 20:21

‘Moses approached the thick darkness where God was’ 

— (Exodus 20:21) 

God is a chasm deep & wide at the  

Heart of light, thick cloud   

Enveloping Moses —  

Cloud the color of ink on a scroll  

Of Torah. God’s best miracle?  

To disappear right in the middle  

Of things (when you need him most)  

& when you look up there’s  

Just a great nothing  

(Except a trail of smoke).  

But seek & you may find him — 

Way out on the sea’s brink  

Where the ice caps melt;  

Feeding the bears on Mount Fuji  

At dusk; under an olive tree  

Near the Western Wall  

In the pouring rain — 

& he’ll conceal you with his cape  

Like Kerouac’s Dr Sax  

In the moody Lowell night   

(Great World Snake coiled  

Beneath the castle) —  

Or else he’ll enfold you in brooding  

Wings black as crow feathers  

& purge you to a cinder  

In the heat of his inexplicable love.