Hunting
the Divine

A Poem
of Longing

By

Joseph
Anthony

 

With
all of the ferocity of a hawk

Dive-bombing
a rabbit

I hunt
your name.

I see
myself sending feathers, fur, earth,

And bone
scattering through the grass,

I feel
myself sinking talons into your sides,

Your heart
racing, your eyes turning upwards.

I want
you mine.

I want
you devoured.

I want
you in my blood.

I hit
the ground hard,

Slamming
my efforts into nothing.

You’re
gone.  Shot like a streak of silent
lightning

Into the
tall, leaning cities of the whispering grass.

Stunned,
I shake my head, take a moment

To preen
my wings.

Thought
I had you that time.

So
close.

I
could taste your desire to not be captured.

And
then

Through
the still and thrumming summer afternoon,

Your voice
breathes into the breeze, like

Blue ink
dissolving into water:

“Next
time,” you say, “Just ask.

Ask
and I shall give myself to you.  Gladly,
joyously,

With all
the delicious rapture of eggs breaking

Freeing
the flight of the future,

I will
simply let you swallow me whole.

I do
not come by force.

I do
not open the chambers of my heart

For nothing.

Pay me
with your manners,

Pay me
with tears of bone-crushing longing,

Pay me
your devotion to the gifts I gave.

I will
gladly step out into the open and wait, humming.

True
Love never responds favorably to aggression.

And I
know the meanings of the words, never and true love.

I know
original loneliness and the ache to be known.

Try to
hunt me down

And your
grasp will hold nothing but dust every single time.

Do I make
myself clear? You know I do,

Clarity
is my middle name.

It is
your eyes that cloud my vision.

So let’s
try this again.

I step
from the grass and offer myself to you,

And you,
for your part,

Ask,
ask me to be your bread of life,

And I
will let you break me into pieces,

And I
will let you lick your talons,

relishing
the flavor of eternity.

In
return, let me do the same

To
your incessant, self-deprecating shame,

And we
will both enjoy each other

With all
the roiling passion and abandon

Of night
dissolving into day

And day
giving way to darkness.”

 

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog