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