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Creation Is a Poem

night sky with sweeping purple yellow blue clouds and stars in the background

i.

god says to herself
I fill the space with my presence
I have no place to stretch

I just trip over myself
in a jumble of time and now I am
unable to write a line

I could pick up my trail
of thoughts up a ridge
one step one word one instant

god thinks, I stagger in thin air
altitude gets to me
be brave, says god to herself

grab a letter another one
build a word a phrase
that feels strong under foot

a steppingstone to the next line
and the next one
a stanza – day one

and god sees it is good

ii.
god emboldened
extends god’s foot
takes another step

turns her back to
the dark dome of heavens
and walks toward a lake

sees shadows of words immobile
resting on the rocky bottom
she blows her breath to enliven them

one by one
until they form lines
a stanza – day two

and god sees it is good

iii.
god elated
walks a step further

dips her toes in the lake
feels the cold water
sharp as sapphire

yearns for softness
green as grass
undulating on the page

words break free
shy verses form slowly
a stanza – day three

and god sees it is good

iv.
god cheerfully
hopscotches up the trail

toward the sky and grabs a star
a rhyme a radiant sound
puts it down on the page

no longer blank
no longer silent
a stanza – day four

and god sees it is good

v.
god playfully
sashays across meadows

admires the lake
admires the grass
and imagines life

crawling swimming flying
rhyming singing swinging
into multicolor verses

prayer flags
dancing on the page
a stanza – day five

and god sees it is good

vi.
god dancing with her words
dares a bold headstand

loses her balance
twists her wrist
picks herself up

wipes the dirt from her hands
swears she’s reached
the end of her line

god sighs, if only I had
a reader in my likeness
I would feel complete

so she creates a reader
from the dirt of the trail
and the wind in the grass

from the words on the page
a poem emerges
after the last stanza – day six

and god sees it is very, very good

vii.
then god closes her tablet
too sore to type another word
she puts her faith in her reader

and retreats in silence

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