I Looked for God

Plot twist: still looking.

I looked for God and did not find it,
no holy nor unholy ghost,
no spirits caulking apertures,
no angels in the architecture.¹

I paced along each of the hallways
winding all ways through my home,
knocking softly on the walls.
Rapt, I begged for quiet echos,
signs this wall was but a mask
and the face it hid was hollow,
search the place once more tomorrow.

An empty space might indicate
some room for magic or design
besides that practiced by mankind.

To focus while I made the raps,
I closed my eyes and parsed the taps,
devoted, beholden to my task,
but did not sleep lest I should miss
the sound of something calling back.
In time, I learned I was alone.
I prayed to the silence of the stone
but always nothing answered ‘no.’

For years I tried and tried again.
Those walls’ respoonse was flat and thin.
I heard no sound nor any talk,
just drywall over cinderblock.

Notes

1. angels in the architecture was lifted from the song “You Can Call Me Al,” by Paul Simon.