How Could God
Brandon Cook
How could God be out there, somewhere, seeing and feeling all this
Like an old man looking down from a tower
And not jump into the battle—
Overturn some tables,
Heal the angry and sick and tired
Strike down the ill-willed
And stand at the grave and say "come forth" and "no more"?
With such suffering, how could God stand still?
It seems to take long years of unlearning, in suffering,
To start to see
That God slouches, just like you, just like me,
Against the onslaught of things
Shaking his head, bracing his shoulders for the day
Seeing love, holding onto it, desperately, above all things
God rises like the sea
Like the possibility of sunlight on leaves
Making his path among the broken shards of clay, on the painful way
Rising again, to be crucified,
With the breaking of the day