to play God, to remember, to raise the dead,
for veneration, for intervention,
to have and to hold or just to atone
for raising the dead to wake the dead
dead to the world, deaf to the word
of the dead who trust us
to raise a voice, to raise hell,
to raise the dead with the voice of God,
of God, of all Gods, of every God
living and dead, those who’s coming
was foretold or those who shared nothing
but foreboding, foretelling the future,
forestalling the past. last led
to the mast lashed bare, baring a soul
to raise all souls, to raise hell,
to be mindful of those left floundering alone
on the shoals, to carry the weight
that waiting can bring singing
the ends we’ve been dreaming,
to dream of the dead in a voice
the voice of a God found wanting
in the breath within hearing.
