COMFORT

Nights when God remembers being young
Lying awake for hours, forgetting that He
Is the Lord of Sleep, troubled and restless,
Michael hurries off to fetch Satan home
To tell the old stories and to sing
In a voice just this side of silence until
God's burning eyes fall shut at last.

NOT HERE ON A TRAIN

Being on a train reminds me of angels

Not here, not there, both and neither.

It is just a story that the revolted ones

Populate Hell. All and none of them rebelled;

For convenience, they use different names

Depending on their location. In Heaven

Michael is Satan's indomitable foe. In Hell

He has a pied-a-terre, calls himself Beelzebub,

 And is Satan's trustworthy lieutenant.

Two rows away, Schrödinger’s cat

Is free in a woman’s lap and in his box

And lolling in the seat across the aisle.

Schrödinger, poor fellow, is dead. His will

Is in a language no one but cats can read.