God is a Metaphor ... With All Due Respect

God is a Metaphor

erupting with fingering phrases

glissando winds ripple limbs

frisson rises in all those places

dawn's sun breaks and swims 

how can i think what God is?

newly fallen snow, fresh kill 

heat steams wavering over

shaded rooms like  a poet's quill

enlighten corners like no other

how can i say who God is?

tuck and rolled white-red leather

the clouds lay cotton in the valleys and

in a faceless place the eyes are a trema

prickly pare cactus bleeds bended knees

how can i see where God is?

immovable and curdled milk senses

mixed in whiskeyrum tumblers 

ice hiccup clinking glass  ..... a 

frenetic lens

 ....and

stippled integrity ...and 

icy fingers probing the most difficult; 

forcing open brittle parchment

peering

loving parts i will not admit

God is a metaphor

With all due respect

Author's Note

Reviews

[Beren]

please don't let any of my family members see me comment on this poem...
i love how every thought about god is so poetic, except for people who believe blindly. shouldn't god be something deeper? even in philosophy 101 we see this "what do we think god is? an omnipotent, perfect, flawless being. this belief alone is enough for god to exist" they say. ok but who is he?
heaven and hell are inside us, so is god.

perfectly written sir. when people ask me why I'm agnostic, I ask permission to have this poem printed on my t-shirt to show them.
nice to discover you

[Einstein Noodle]

well ... i dont know about the t-shirt but i am truly humbled and pleased at the request ... i am not agnostic :) but since you believe, at least in part, is within us ... i think perhaps you are not either ... i think you hit on the gist of this one .. we are unable to put into words who God is .. we try and fail miserably .. and yes! i agree ... we do carry both heaven and hell inside of us .. what counts is which side we feed more ;) love on ya and thanks again for choosing this one to review .. I will meet you on your streets ... peace and joy, Ms. Beren :)
E.
ps ... i was afraid to post the title for fear people would think it blasphemous .. my hope upon reading thoughts will run in another direction

[Beren]

You write about God fearlessly but afraid of humans… might be the hell you fed.

“ I will meet you on your streets ” woah
You wrote poetry in your comment! So pleased about this, it’s my pleasure!

[Einstein Noodle]

i'll have to think on that ;))

[R.E. Ray]

This makes God real, E! He’s not the white-haired, bearded old man we might’ve imagined in Sunday school. He’s everywhere and everything. Even when I see contradictions in nature (one animal killing another), I see not an evil or conflicted deity, but the blessing of a continued species and nature at work. Even when I’ve felt my faith has left me, I see evidence of Him in every living thing around me. An exceptional write, E.

[Einstein Noodle]

R.E. .... yes yes and yes ... you have made me day with your words ... so happy and gratified this spoke to you in such a way .. you touch everything i tried to do ... blessing on ya brother .. sometimes i think i am breathing God in and out ... in and out ... and everything kind of slows down ... and becomes quiet ;) love ya man!
E.

[Benita-Staebell M - Kin..]

How appropriate I was
just praying to him and
I'm doing daily devotional
on forgiveness.


Beautiful God is
everywhere I loved
this 🙏💗👍

newly fallen snow, fresh kill
heat steams wavering over
shaded rooms like a poet's quill
enlighten corners like no other

[Einstein Noodle]

oh Benita .. i am so thrilled that this caught you at such an opportune time ... yes! i agree! God is everywhere .. even all those places we have no idea exist .. thanks again for your mail .. peace and love sister!
E.

[Benita-Staebell M - KindredPoet]

Thank you my friend
I always appreciate your
input on things and enjoy
reading your work.

God bless 🙏💛

[Lyn Anderson]

Intriguing title and lovely phrasing - is God inside the beauty of everything marvelous in this world, or something more...

[Einstein Noodle]

:) ....... what say you Lyn Anderson?? something more?? :) something "All" perhaps .... thanks for gracing me pages once again Lyn .. and for reviewing always ... i'm happy you found something worthwhile in this ... peace and joy!
E.

[Ken Simm.]

Excellent use of words, metaphor and descriptions. And of course from the title onwards you are taken into realms of imaganitive prose that seems to rally the mind and develop the senses. Which is as good a definition for what God is as I have seen. Philiosophical and mystical journies through belief in time and space. Quite simply wonderful even to a recalctrant like me.

[Einstein Noodle]

my goodness Ken!! i am enthralled this took you there sir! really happy you stopped to read and review! thank you dear friend!
E.

[barleygirl]

This is exactly how I see God and I've never known how to express it, but now I know! It's the idea of God in everything, in all of us . . . not some sky-dwelling deity! You pick some of the most fresh details to show all the ways you see & think about & feel God. THINK - SAY - SEE . . . I love it when a writer uses a repeated phrase by changing one single idea or word . . . love how you've done this. I love the ending, becuz we do feel sheepish when we try to define God in an avant-garde or nebulous way, rather than shoveling gobs of that "Christian-eze" type of phraseology we freedom-seekers have come to despise! Wow! This really gets my motor running & the ideas flow! Love it! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Einstein Noodle]

i know you have legitimate complaints on "Chritian-eze" ..and like i shared with Ken ..i could not be more happy this took you there, Margie .. big blessings of peace and joy and health to you sister ... your a keeper says i!

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Gene... God is Integrity... the light through a stained glass window...
the shadow of a smile when all seems lost. Your poem reflects the soul
that sees and hears divine guidance when a bird sings or a baby cries.
A metaphor of pure innocence when stars align and Venus shines. truly, Pat

[Einstein Noodle]

your reviews are poetry in motion dahlink! i am always thrilled ... really thrilled to have them on one of my posts ... i agree with everything you say Pat ... especially the wisdom to know how we see light through stained glass ... i think if we looked at God's Light we would collapse and shatter ... best of the day to you ... love and joy!
E.

[Lorry]

Firstly, may i just say that the "with all due respect" part of the title told me who wrote this before i saw who wrote it. Class, that could only be from you. 😀

[Lorry]

Sorry, pressed send accidentally, or maybe God did it.
Goda & metaphors on the same page? I bet ya know one at all has an opinion on that, but here's mine that no one asked for... I don't believe in metaphors 😀
Wonderful piece E, that on my mind looks similar to your chosen image, with that wisp- like mist, being all the thoughts swirling in your mind, and having the ability to pick out those thoughts from within the chaos of the other thoughts, screaming for attention.
Putting them onto paper, that in turn the reader will read, ponder and who knows, inspire them to inspire thought in others.
Is this an infinite loop?
Are you God?
Am I?
Pfft! Whoever heard of an atheist god?
But then again, maybe god would say that, just to blend in.

Ps... If you are God, how far down your to do list is ending world hunger? It has been going on for quite a while 😀

[Einstein Noodle]

well .. i asked for your opinion my friend! ;) and am grateful to have it .. i think man as God can be crossed off .. we fall far short .. i think feeding one another has fallen to us to do ;) its the seeking that counts ... i am sure if we do we will find .. great stuff in your review .. taking some of those thoughts with me this morning my friend .. thank you!
E.

[gram linski]

amazing Imagery, E and the word flow of the rippling limbs to the brittle parchment flows like a river , each phrase, the metaphor of God through Natures eyes, loved this and Hendrix is playing in the background, works well :}

[Einstein Noodle]

ohhh poor Jimmy right!? :( what would he be doing with his music now?? thank you for reading and a generous, encouraging review ... i am particularly happy the the lines flowed for you .. top o' the mahrnin' to ya gram! peace and joy!
E.

[gram linski]

peace and joy, back at ya, E. with a little wind cries mary on the side, :}

[Einstein Noodle]

:) ............love that song!

[Fay Slimm]

Linguistic perfection - a great poem to ponder and read over and overagain

[Einstein Noodle]

your smiling and bright sunny face make me smile Fay ... thanks so much for reading and reviewing ..i could not ask more than that a poem brings the reader back to its beginning to read again ... you make my day Ms. Simm! thank you!
E.

[Terpsichore]

Is God a metaphor? An oft posed question, impossible to answer given we are contingent beings, limited by time and space and our almost slavish reliance on the temporal.

It all sometimes gets a bit divine and oblique for me. But whenever I sit down and think about the question you pose, (which I often do,) coming at it directly just tends to add to the confusion, especially when poetry and storytelling is mixed into the pot and one considers the highly metaphoric narrative of the bible.

Suffice I think, to say, that this is an intelligently written and very good poem that makes the reader think long and hard; and that if God is indeed a metaphor,then it's just as well Humphry Davy was around. Because despite the Good Lord, being 'the light of the world,' I do find the electric light bulb to be quite a comfort. :)

[Einstein Noodle]

yes..we have plenty of comforts to be thankful for eh!? thank you so much for taking time Terp! i appreciate it and thank you for sharing your thoughts about God .. i don't think that God is a metaphor at all ... rather our attempts to understand and picture and approach all have to rely on metaphor as our language can not contain Him ... nor express Him .. thanks again for stopping and reviewing .. nice to be getting to know you a bit more ... right here at the Cafe' :)
E.