Glory All Around

I said to God, "Let me love you."
And He replied, "Which part?"

"All of you, all of you," I said.

"Dear," God spoke, "you are as a mouse
wanting to impregnate
a tiger who is not even in heat. It is a feat
way
beyond your courage and strength.
You would run from me
if I removed my
mask."

I said to God again,
"Beloved I need to love you—every aspect,
every pore."

And this time God said,

"There is a hideous blemish on my body,
though it is such an infinitesimal part of
my Being—
could you kiss that if it were revealed?"

"I will try, Lord, I will try."

And then God said,
"That blemish is all the hatred and
cruelty in this
world."

Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God