Under the former dispensation the Shadow of God
Was just that -- a shadow, though one of
Particular weight and substance not the one-ply
Sort of thing must people drag around with them.
It had free will and, when God wasn't using it,
A life of its own -- much of it, alas, spent
Among alewives and tosspots and in places
Of low repute. People wary of approaching God
Would seek out His shadow who, for a drink
Or a meal or smile would offer advice
Or, once in a very great while, a miracle.
Dispensations pass; the new one
Includes the Angel of Clarification whose job
Is to insert (in parentheses) explanations
That words don't mean what they say
As in "Safe in God's hands (not that He has hands)"
Or "Tremble before God's Wrath (not that He feels wrath"
Or "In the Heart of God (not that He has a heart)."
The Shadow of God resents this and every time
The Angel approaches him with parentheses
Gives him so fierce a look that the Angel,
Pretending he hasn't noticed him,
Asks the nearest alewife for a stiff drink
(Not that angels have money).
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