Memories

1. There is fire in the sky
And it spreads and it spreads
And I remember looking up and thinking wow,
I wonder if hell is this beautiful.

2. I’m small,
So small,
And I look at the window as we drive
And the clouds have opened
And beams of light are coming down and I say look, look,
Those beams, that light,
That means that god is talking to somebody right now.
Look how pretty it is.
And my dad stays quiet
While my mother turns and smiles and she says
That’s beautiful.
And I remember watching as we drove on and trees blocked the sight
And I thought, that’s it,
God speaks to people, and that’s what it looks like.

3. I saw your smile and I changed my mind.
That’s how god speaks to people.

4. I’m older and I wonder
What happened to the the gods that came before?
What happened to Ra and his falcon head?
What happened to Anubis and his jackals?
Where have they gone?
Where do gods go when we no longer believe in them?

5. I wonder how many gods’ names we have forgotten.

6. I wonder how many names I have forgotten.

7. I wake up and for some reason you’re on my mind
And I don’t remember your name
And I can’t remember your face but wow,
Wow I remember that smile.
And I don’t actually remember what it looked like,
But I remember what it felt like.
I no longer believe in any gods but maybe,
Just maybe that is what gods do
When we have forgotten their names,
Maybe they infuse smiles with something magic,
Maybe they make some people
Into a religious experience.

8. I watch a sunset change and fade
And this time it’s not red
And somehow it’s just not as beautiful.

9. Someone once told me that god is seven.

10. I watch fire dance in the grate
And I think maybe thats it,
Maybe the Greeks had it right
And there was Prometheus,
Bigger than the gods themselves,
And maybe we are all to be punished for this secret.

11. I read about fire in a poem that never says the word.
I decide that it’s wrong.
Fire isn’t dark or malevolent.
Fire is nothing other than what it wants to be,
And sometimes it is death,
And sometimes it is creation,
And sometimes,
Sometimes it is just beautiful
With no other purpose than to warm our hands.

12. I’ve forgotten your name.
I’ve forgotten a lot of names.
But I remember every smile.