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Home > The Voice of God | Poem

Ninety percent of what’s wrong with you
    could be cured with a hot bath,
says God from the bowels of the subway.
    but we want magic, to win
the lottery we never bought a ticket for.
    (Tenderly, the monks chant, embrace
the suffering.) The voice of God does not pander,
    offers no five year plan, no long-term
solution, nary an edict. It is small & fond & local.
    Don’t look for your initials in the geese
honking overhead or to see thru the glass even
    darkly. It says the most obvious crap—
put down that gun, you need a sandwich.

Issue: 
January 9, 2015 [1]
Tags
Poetry [2]

Mary Karr’s most recent books of poetry and memoir are Sinners Welcome and Lit, respectively. She is the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University.

Please email comments to [email protected] [3] and join the conversation on our Facebook page [4].

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Links
[1] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2015-01-09 [2] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/poetry [3] mailto:[email protected] [4] http://www.facebook.com/commonwealmagazine [5] http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/voice-god-poem [6] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/voice-god-poem [7] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/print/36695