The Foolishness of God

A man is foolish to return time and again
to the woman who keeps closing her legs
around another man.

A woman is foolish to believe month after barren month
that her womb will house a child
with dimpled hands and ears she’ll fill with song.

A child, in his simplicity, believes
his lost beagle will sniff his way back, months after
he chased a startled squirrel up and beyond.

The dog foolishly believes he will be found.

The squirrel was foolish to let himself be seen
by the dog, who loves squirrels
with an intensity we cannot fathom.

And the God of Paul must be foolish
in all these ways
and more if he is to exceed us:

He must marry the whore,
believe life will come, somehow, from nothing,
and search for his lost dog each afternoon in his old Chevy pick-up
yelling, “Sparky! Sparky, come home!”

He must be lost in a concrete wilderness and hungry.
He must be chased down by dogs.

Originally published in Crux.

Second place winner in the EPA Higher Goals contest.