Divine Intervention

When I think about God, He comes as a disembodied
voice in a poem that asks, Where’re you this instant?
Carefully I answer, I’m struggling down the side
of a mountain; behind me, the past has lifted off
into cloud; before me, I’ve yet to see level ground.
Then I am asked, What’re the moments that may
help you continue? It is an easy one: Every time
my lover unzips my body to reveal its joy, or when music
creates an opening in the air for a burdened heart to fill.
Since you’ve come this far, He chides, why have you
suddenly stopped walking? Taking a deep breath,
I tell Him, This is because I want to keep dancing
upon the jagged rocks without any fear of falling
and curse at those stars blinking ridiculously above;
not caring if I’m cold, or if my voice receives no echo;
not caring if there's still much further I'll have to go.

Cyril Wong is the author of six poetry collections published by Firstfruits Publication and co-author of Excess Baggage and Claim (Transit Lounge, 2007) with Terry Jaensch. Internationally, his poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Cider Press Review, Fulcrum, and Poetry International. He was a featured poet at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the Sydney Writers Festival, the >Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale, the Byron Bay Writers Festival, the Queensland Poetry Festival, the Singapore Writers Festival and Singapore's first poetry festival, Wordfeast. He is the founder and co-editor of softblow, an international poetry journal online.