Testimony of His Absence

I have known for some weeks now that I would have to write this poem. Just as it is good to recount the story of your walk with God, it is also good to remember the times you strayed away from him. In this case, I had done something I knew to be despised by God. This poem depicts the moment after, when He seemed to withdraw his presence from me. I do not say that he deserted me. It was I who had turned away, and now, as lesson and as rebuke, He gave me a small taste of His absence. As painful as that was, I don't ever want to forget it. This too is "testimony."

A Bronze Sky

Do you remember your bronze sky?
And how you cried out,
and how your voice was swallowed up
in that great vacancy, that personless house,
swallowed up, lost, meaningless,
so that it reminded you of nothing at all, and no one,
the words neither pleasing nor shameful,
unrecognized, unanswerable,
and there you were, yes, there you were,
not yet repentant,
but only wondering if anyone lived here,
if anyone could possibly survive
this doing without,
these faces turned away,
this closing cell.