Anne Sexton wrote:
"God has a brown voice,
full and soft as beer."
But I think no,
more a shot of cask-strength bourbon –
"Wow, shit. Woo! Hoo boy."
Or "Hoo-ah!" like Al Pacino
in Scent of a Woman.
Holy – fiery midnight
tossed back without sentiment,
the stars sway and shake
as they did at creation.
No sotto-voce stage-right,
no sorry Romeo in crestfallen overcoat,
no sentimental trombones
stepping on valentine shoes
doing the boxing-step waltz.
Or if God has a soft voice,
maybe like asphalt gone formless
on a burning hot day,
the sky a void –
no place for bare feet
on the road.
Waiting for weather.
Waiting for thunder and rain.
For Shay’s Word Garden
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qbit 
You’re both wrong. She sounds like Joan Jett!
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That too!
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“..like asphalt gone formless/on a burning hot day..”that would seem to be the deity of our times to me. Love the rhythmic progression here, and the way the images build toward something potent, ominous and unknown.. that even when soft can burn off your skin. Good to read you again, my friend.
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Thank you. Have missed you.
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“Or if God has a soft voice,
maybe like asphalt gone formless
on a burning hot day….”
God as Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen… or Bonnie Tyler.
Nice write, Randall!
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Thank you, and thanks for the Anne Sexton line and banter that gave me this poem!
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You’re welcome!
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Enjoyed this Randall. The opening is a perfect springboard. And the Al Pacino line/scene is a punchy allusion, perfect for the quality of desire/passion/fire that the divine presence provokes. I like the earthiness you bring to the material experience of God — creation is after all “good” — and then that deep spiritual depth that spurns the sentimental. And the waiting — as a prophet waits — for His voice to be heard.
~Dora
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Thank you so much, and for your close reading of the poem.
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You have brought to light a thought and feel to God that is even more graspable even in it’s allusiveness. I love those closing lines and the idea of God’s voice being soft and formless like asphalt. Simply brilliant writing Qbit!
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Thank you so much!!
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Lovely 😊
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Thank you!!!
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You’re welcome 😊🙏
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