The House that Noah Made

Faced with a flood

I walk, mouth open to the sky

to catch what I can

Is it loneliness

that drives us to enjoy

the intimate touch of rain

on our skin

   our faces

   our tongues

like a lover 

only approximately forecastable

even for the experts

(unless, I'm told, they are an angel)

How many times during his forty days did Noah wonder at the loneliness of people

despite the existence of God

or some schizophrenic substitute

The Weatherman

Did Noah wonder, his family alone 

responsible for continuing

our race

or not?

Did Noah ever consider his Ark a home

or a funeral pyre designed to get only the animals to safety?

the end of human loneliness in his hands

the whole world in his hands

and he said,

“I will perpetuate a people who can’t find each other even in the light

In a new world

a world of pairs

I alone will play the father

I alone will find peace in the gift of a dove

I alone will be the voice that says continue.”

I alone

the heartbeat of civilization

I alone

the root of our family tree

I alone 

the mantra of every Sophoclean saint, wandering blind

I alone

the consummation of sirens’ songs

I alone

the bed that Noah made

I alone

I alone

I alone

walk in the rain

head tilted up to catch what I can

a whisper of connection

the kiss of an ocean

(this water was once the sea

once fell on the Ark too

it said,

“I alone will be the same after forty days.

I alone know the way to the shore.

I alone am necessary.”)

I alone am comforted:

sixty percent of my body is water

once fell on the Ark too

I say,

“I alone will rebuild.

I alone know the way to the shore.

I alone am necessary.”