—-Perhaps all these
years God has denied me
—-the little grace
I hoped for in preparation
—-for the larger

—-one: how sad
to fit oneself to smallness.
—-These words rattle
like gravel: smallness, grace, God.
—-One doesn’t confuse

—-even the best
dictionary for the living language,
—-one knows both
good news and hard words
—-soften. If God

—-wanted to be
found, God ought to have
—-appeared more clearly
more often. Been so blasted
—-long I’ve forgotten

—-God’s face. That—
well, that, the mystics argue
—-against the theologians,
might be the most surprising
—-aspect of grace.

 

 

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Stephen Kampa is the author of three collections of poetry: Cracks in the Invisible (Ohio), Bachelor Pad, and Articulate as Rain (both from Waywiser). He teaches at Flagler College.