
Window #9
PoesÍA
The Etymology of Prayer
I
how long have we
housed God in “God”
infinite “o”
a cage
or peephole
II
Muslims
risk no visual mis-
representation
of the Ineffable
in bold strokes
and flourishes
right~to~left
script suffices
to frame:
revelation of an empty page
III
in ( ) we trust
In ( )
see the
two crumbling
garden walls
See the parentheses
grasp
with stubborn
infant hands
one edge
of the boundless
Remove ( )
and the
whole blank page
comes forth
IV
Buddhists,
pilgrims bound for
anatta,
pray stilled
silent
No pleading
no imploring
no holy-art-Thou-wretched-am-I
This is not to say
the Catholics
have not acquired meditation—
mantras and Holy Marys
navigate the same road—
but that the mustard robes,
the saffron swaths,
know something of awe
V
Jews write “G-d,”
careful of coming
too close to the peephole
Hindus hum OM,
bearing the sacred sound
with lungs and tongue
Sufis dance,
whirling skirts into blurry o’s,
uniting full-tilt with
SAR.
2016