on the day of departure, no
symphonies swelled, no curtains parted
bells did not relentlessly ring,
just one step followed by another
the packing and unpacking of things
rolled up underwear, paired socks, shirts
solid colored towels, new sheets,
a mini refrigerator and microwave
logistics ruled attention
registration, orientation
superficial greetings and official reassurances
the process of dropping off our
oldest son at college, eighteen
years of nurturance simply and
necessarily cut off with surgical precision
that night lying awake i thought
perhaps this is how God feels, being
in relationship for what actually
is eternity, letting go
one by one by one as we are
born upside down and naked
maybe God takes the long view that what is
real about us cannot be lost
and the rest is ever changing
maybe God still hurts, feeling
separation from what is loved
the lack of control, loss of
personal significance, known
difficulties of embodied
conscious human life, certain death
punctuated by each labor spasm
maybe that first newborn cry is
like a parting hug, announcing
a letting go, sounding out a chalice
with cavernous rounded depth
into which a vulnerable love can eternally flow.