Some Gods
Some Gods - Jack Underwood
Some Gods
God with eagle’s head and five-pointed-star insignia
on palms of hands; God connected to seven I-V drips
with fire coming out of mouth; God made of warts;
God with horse’s legs and head of ram reading names
from a scroll pointing to a hole in the ground; God
surrounded by representatives from the animal kingdom;
God surrounded by representatives from the kingdom
of global finance; God with cobbler’s last and washing
line with human faces pegged along; God with merciful
expression holding knife and fork; God as a female infant;
God with stomach as gumball machine; God as smiling
coma patient between starchy cotton sheets surrounded
by cards and flowers; God banging human skull-gavel to
silence a courtroom of lesser gods; God being led into
a courtroom and asked to confirm holy name; God in
fool’s attire inviting you to play a game of rummy; God as
Bronze Medalist forcing smile on podium; God as golden
ball of light forming in your chest; God as a feeling
of intense and sudden cold; God as a feeling of sudden
loneliness; God as a cup in your house that you haven’t yet
recognised as God but drink from nearly every day; God
as a dead robin; God as the eye of a dead robin; God as
your barely visible reflection in the eye of a dead robin.
first published in The Poetry Review, © Jack Underwood 2015, used by permission of the author