Emily Bronte to Her Absent God
"As a dog howls at the door
of his dead master's room,
so I stand at the gates of empty Heaven
and howl at the moon.
"In each harebell's leaf, each flower,
in every crag and stone
once I sought You out and found You
who am now alone.
"Foolish game of hide-and-seek!
Do you hope to escape me so--
You, who are more myself than I,
turn stranger now?
"Though You swell up, infinitely huge,
shrink down, minutely small,
I shall seize hawk wings and soar,
turn nothing at all,
"strip off these rags of earth and air--
of body, mind, and breath--
and that which I have lost in life
hunt down in death."
Copyright 2010-2012 Paul Petrie