Poem: Lake on a Hill

LAKE ON A HILL

Is a lake on a hill closer to God than a
lake on a plain with its

bright reflective waters?

Is the dial on the watch of a saint
closer to true time than the

dials of the rest of us?

Is the night longer or shorter for
one who believes or one who disbelieves

that at the farthest end of it a glorious oasis arises?

(Slender palm trees there bend and tremble in the
sweetest wind)

Is the voice of the Beloved
licked inside our ears

clearer than our own voice and the
voices of others on the outside?

Is outside any different from
inside in God’s Eyes?

                        1/15/2008 (from The Fire Eater’s Lunchbreak, in progress)