You Are Late

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

 - Matthew 25:1-13

And you are late as we wait for the dateless day

the time of no more car crashes or heroin overdoses

the futility of armaments and warlords revealed

the unscheduled happening on the skyline beyond

a joyous enigma warbled by shofar, drum, and didgeridoo

a jubilee table overflowing with peppered roast and pie

every person has a dining chair and every chair a person

So we wonder, in your holy lateness that feels stale now

as our wicking lamps burn dry and our oil flasks empty

like our fading hope and trust in the thinness of words

did we miss something or was there nothing to miss

did we blink in the wind as you hurriedly came and went

did you forget us or just move on to other universes and

other promises easier to keep than healing this one

or is it that we blithely forgot what we were waiting for and

it is here touching like sunlight fingers and nearby as Mars

round and full of presence like pregnant women waxing

sublime like Grand Canyon silence filling the ear and mind, is it

you yourself and your permeation of every quantum thing

so all we do now in the felt deferment that is not quite that is

welcome you slowly like this day’s light one photon after the other