I want to experience life like a pastor
In the Baptist mass that I flip past while
Channel surfing on Sunday mornings.
Pausing only the moment it takes
For the picture to flicker on the screen
And a deep passionate voice to fill the room.
I want to speak in sonic booms.
To shake rafters. Leave hearts quivering,
Minds hanging on my every word.
To entice exclamations from
An audience too moved to hold back.
To live with all the ferocity of a church choir
To write words that captivate throngs of believers
But I can’t keep the attention of a stuffed animal audience
And I’m finding it hard to believe these days.
Believe in a force I can’t see or have ever felt.
So I’m searching.
For a voice to guide me, I find it not in a book,
But in the subtle silence of words that are left unsaid,
Emotions left unexpressed
And the depths of the starry, starry night.