God’s Eyes Were Watching Them

 

In a good way

God doesn’t care

You did it, so what

You thought this destructive thing

And then another

No big deal

Outside the gate

 

You did what?

God knows,

Has seen it, will only tally it

If you want it that way

But has other

Things more pressing

And other parts of people

To see without

Unseeing

It’s not carte blanche

For crime

Or open book on wrong

Sin is still sin

And justice hasn’t changed

 

But there is forgiveness

Repentance—turning ‘round

There is an asking

With a statement of

Belief

With or without articulation

Captain Stormfield came to God

Then died

Was drowned right after

The revival

We could meet him there

If he weren’t

A fictional exemplar

 

The real is the real

And pointers of all kinds

The hurt we cause

Means something

There is a code

With punishment

But leave it to the one

Who does each perfectly

Change the heart

Not like a bed

And enter heaven

Like a morning, after

 

We might be surprised to find

Blank pages in the book

Not because what matters

Doesn’t matter

But in the times

That eschatology tries

Explaining,

We might be surprised to find

What is remembered,

What is

Just as good as let go

 

C L Couch

 

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel by Zora Neale Hurston

“Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” a short story by Mark Twain

 

Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash