don't confuse God with silence

Who among you thinks that I am afraid of silence
because I can't find your version of God with silence?

I hear God in a pinball machine's sound and fury.
You say you can't? Are your ears clogged with silence?

I hear angel wings in a bowling ball's low rumble.
You can't? Have you been struck odd with silence?

God is a siren screaming toward a house on fire.
Lives will be saved by water cannons, not with silence.

God is the raucous laughter during and after sex.
Make noise! Joyful noise! Don't fallow sod with silence.

Have you ever heard great powwow drummers singing to God?
Pay them! Pay them! Gas can't be bought with silence.

When I start my car I hear a dinosaur's grief song.
To live, we kill. Don't be so distraught with silence.

God is a knife that slices root and neck for food.
Make joyful noise! Don't dishonor blood with silence.

I hear God when my son plays his alto saxophone.
Am I strange? Or have you been struck odd with silence?

I hear God whenever I hear my neighbors make love.
You can't? Maybe your ears are clogged with silence.

Have you ever heard one thousand cranes lifting into flight?
It sounds like a hymn. Don't confuse God with silence.

Faith should be quarrel and quandary.
Why not make noise? Why haven't you fought with silence?

[Sherman Alexie {1966- }, 'Loud Ghazal', from What I've Stolen, What I've Earned]