me and god,
we took three trains to get from
one side of the city to another
in those long rambling railway hours
we exchanged the words of lovers
oh ! but god’s laughter!
oh ! but god’s whispers!
there was something more than love there
but never one to follow through
god vanishes at the end of the track
***
me and you,
we have a few hours to kill
before the city unbuttons
and reaches its arms to ring the bell
that signals the end—
or is it the start?—
to industrial workday melancholia
we are somewhere stumbling
through the attics of our adolescence
in home-again! abandon
why not look for god here?
god is lurking in the blood-let
factory! god is lurking in the eyes of the night watchman!
god is lurking in beads of blood on your skin!
god is inhuman!
god knows laughter
god knows whisper
god does not know love!
– Sohum Pal is a junior in Branford College.