A Poem for a Thursday #139

Stanley Moss is an American poet, publisher, and art dealer. He was educated at Trinity College in Connecticut and Yale University. Poet Hayden Carruth has said of him “The poetry of the ages is an argument with God, but few poets have picked up that argument in recent years. Stanley Moss does…He can continue the argument and keep it immediate to our lives.” This poem caught my attention because it uses God’s name, Jehovah.

You are Jehovah, and I am a wanderer.
Who should have mercy on a wanderer
if not Jehovah? You create and I decay.
Who should have mercy on the decayed
if not the creator? You are the Judge
and I am the guilty. Who should have mercy 
on the guilty if not the Judge? You are All
and I am a particle. Who should have mercy
on a particle if not the All?
You are the Living One and I am dead.
Who should have mercy on the dead if not
the Living One? You are the Painter and Potter
and I am clay. Who should have mercy on clay
if not the Painter and Potter? You are the fire
and I am the straw. Who should have mercy on straw
if not the Fire? You are the Listener
and I am the reader. Who should have mercy 
on the reader if not the Listener? You 
are the Beginning and I am what follows. 
Who should have mercy on what follows
if not the Beginning? You are the End and I am 
what follows. Who should have mercy 
on what follows if not the End? 

You and I
Stanley Moss