The Word

Could you hear, see, feel, or answer
Those burned, hanged, torn apart
Stoned to death
In your name, in vain
Crying out to you —

Countless others, screaming your name
None did you see, hear or save

What then must I conclude
If you exist
Yet deaf to cries

But that
You are nothing, nowhere

And I, here, must be
The only you, that is
All that is done cannot be
Thy will, but mine alone

Yet I, like you, am nothing, nowhere

And still
Still — here is the word
Breath, voice

If not yours, nor mine —
Who’s to say then
That the word alone
Is not the sole will

If so —
Then those claiming your voice
To silence, kill voices
Invoke the word to kill the word
Invoke will to kill will
Invoke God to kill God

Who but hollow ghosts, possessed by false authority
Would silence, condemn, kill others
For speaking different words

What but supreme blasphemy —
Slaying for blasphemy