I Saw The Face of God
written by: Hanna Abi Akl
@HannaAbiAkl
On a storefront
Selling second-hand computer hardware
Hard drives, disks, keyboards on display
I walked by and saw god peeking through the window
Looking in disapproval
At the street full of rowdy people
Coming and going
Buying and selling
Advocating war and protesting against peace
He called out the hippies but they wouldn’t answer
He called out the politicians but they pretended not to hear
He called out the stray cats and dogs and they came to him…
I saw the face of god
On the windshield of my car
Coming back from a long day at the office
Unbuttoning my shirt
Loosening my tie
He stared at me and laughed
And quoted Sartre:
Hell is not other people –
Hell is all of mankind!
He sneezed at my windshield
And I had to force a hard right
Off the highway and into the woods
I saw the face of god in the mud
In a swamp full of dead wood and leaves
Shed by the forest trees
I walked by him and tripped and fell
And splattered my face right into him
I got up and wiped my eyes
And saw the world in red:
Skies being raided by air crafts
And carriers dropping bombs on hospital roofs
And school yards
Gunned mercenaries breaking out into a parking lot
Resisting long enough before surrendering and taking turns
Shooting each other
Until the last one
Who watched his brothers in arms all die
One by one
Put a bullet in his mouth
And pulled the trigger
While shouting the name of god.
I saw flags being raised and waved up high
But they were not the flags of humanity
Only tyrants
And the land being razed
By a beam of fire
Then it went all dark
And the face of god returned
Calling me to see more
And I refused
And I pushed it away
And I covered my ears and my eyes
And my stomach twisted and wrenched and
Turned
And
Turned
And god was gone
And the visions were gone
And the flags were gone
And the land was gone
And I was gone
Until I returned
To the storefront
And looked for the face of god
And it
Was not
There.
- I Saw The Face of God - March 18, 2020
- Eyesore - January 21, 2020
