The Mercy of the Miraculous

For Bobby
The sword-like sound
of the voice un-easily heard
snaps the sinews of our souls
which bind them to earth.
As unbidden fire
would consume a life with a crack,
so the voice may well unmake
the plans well laid,

And you know it…

Which is why mercy
makes it hard to hear.
So that the curse of our deafness
would drive us to desperate knees,
and when the word at last is heard,
and our aural sense unstopped,
we might not mistake
the kindness of our life’s consumption
for cruelty.