The Love Poems of God

An experiment. Not a proclamation, but an idea. These are…

The Four Love Poems of God

I.

I don’t love you.
I try to, but I can’t.

It’s not that I don’t want to,
I simply see too much
I know too much
I know your heart

I close my eyes
and I see all of it
All that you hide from them
And know you can’t really hide from me

I can’t not see it.
And so I don’t love you.

I really did love you once upon a time
But now it’s just that, a fairy tale
–Once upon a time–

I even pursued you
but now I realize
you’re just too much
even for me.

You killed all I ever made
My world
My heart
My son

And you’re still killing it.

And I know I’m supposed to love you
to love you all
And I guess I do love you all

Just like a mom has to love
all the children
she thinks maybe should
never have been born

I do love you all, but I’m sorry
I just can’t love you.

 

II.

What am I saying here?
I love you so much
that I don’t want you
to doubt it for a moment

I will whisper it in your ear tonight
and this time you will hear me
–audibly–

I’ll come
to your side
and you can even place your fingers
into the gore
at my side

It’s bleeding just for you

I would bleed all my drops
into eternity
so that you would know I’m here

Even if you were the only one

Still, I would love you as much

I will tell you
how I see it all so clearly
all you hide behind
fig leaves and silence and plastic smiles

I see it

And it doesn’t mean anything to me
I love you just the way you are
And I don’t care whether you ever change

Because I love you.
Ceaselessly.
Recklessly.
Blindly.

I love you.

 

III.

Now what was I saying?
I got rather emotional

Rather, let us speak of truth

I love you, don’t you know
Doesn’t your Bible tell you so

I love the whole world
so I gave my son

It doesn’t sound like poetry
so reduced as this

But I am love,
and thus I love you.

 

IV.

I haven’t yet told you everything

I know you wrestle
so much with
what you think
and what you wish
and what you believe

Because I haven’t told you everything

But just enough to let you know
you can trust me, segullah

But for now, hear me out
This is what I’ve been saying to you
for a long time

I created you
I formed you
I knit you

Above all that,
I redeemed you
so there’s no need for fear

I called and call you out by name,
because you are mine

When you pass through the waters
I will be with you
and when you pass through the rivers
they will not sweep over you

When you walk through the fire
you will not be burned
the flames will not set you ablaze

What are these promises
if not love?
if not true?
if not mine?

For I am your God
and your Savior
And I would give entire countries
as a ransom for you

Because you are precious to me
and because I love you
I would give men in exchange for you
and people in exchange for your life

And I did
I gave one man.

Because I do love you

And yes, I do see all;
I gave my son anyway

That’s what love is

It pursues you
even when you’re broken
and dirty
and alone

And it succeeds

But I won’t leave you thus;
I sent my Spirit your way

Because that’s also what love is

It transforms you
even when you’re broken
and dirty
and alone

And it succeeds

Hold on tight
This world, this life
will be tough for you

I know that

But I’m with you now
And I’m coming
And it really won’t be long

So cry out when you don’t remember
Groan so deeply when
you can’t hear
you can’t speak
you can’t feel

For
I am quick to love
I am quick to love
I am quick to love.

~ by Chris Sweigart on Wednesday, February 11, 2009.