When he listed his manifestations
what was missing?
He is the lion among beasts and the Himalaya
He is the raucous jay and the jet heading eastward
through hurtling clouds He is the thunderbolt
from him the splayed sequoia the floundering helicopter
Self-existing in all things he is unshakeable power
He is the ape at the apex of the Ziggurat
the ape-man who bullied me into compliance
He is my will others tried to break my determination
my mean-spirited weakness-homing eagle eye
that tore me apart
From him trauma betrayals mordant thoughts
I long for her the one who spoke saying
You daughter whatever you are I will cherish
Whatever you undertake I will bless
Whomever you love I will take into my house
a welcome guest and their lives shall be a gift
When my son cradled his son in his arms
wasn’t it she who let him know this birth
had changed him forever? Wasn’t it she
who in my husband’s hand drew a corny heart-card
and we kissed and made up because
I was furious when he said
Why are you giving your opinions No one is listening
Your words cannot affect the world
Wasn’t it she in his slippers who went out in the rain
to measure inches in the gage?
she who kept us awake burbling through the downspout
she the revenging ocean that washed away our insouciance?
Isn’t she in the quick of every moment
the tawny post office lady chuckling in the empty post office
saying Sometimes it happens this way?