Her funeral filled the road. O it is the old old
myth. Gone by many names. Trust: I am no God.
A chapel has fallen into ruins. I believe
in the devil. Worse, that there are no gods.
Outside, one statue keeps its head.
The temple roof. Stand and remember its gods.
My dead sisters looked worried. I had forgotten
to provide the stars. I know I frustrate God.
In the rainroom all the nests are cracking.
Water collects in your coffin. I did not see a god.
Sister. Sister, come lay your wound in mine.
I crouch under light. For, clearly, there were other gods.
*Seamus Heaney, Susan Howe, Aditi Machado, Norman Dubie, Donika Kelly, Carl Phillips, Marianne Boruch, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Olena Kalytiak Davis, Charles Simic, Natalie Shapero, Sally Rosen Kindred, Kim Hyesoon, Katie Ford, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Victoria Chang, Laura Kasischke.
