I am the God of Water

a found poem

by Jood Gough


Your skin cracks like a pod:

there is never enough water.

I am a god

an ever fixed mark

that looks on tempests and is never shaken,

even to the edge of doom.


Imagine the drip of it

the small splash of it, echo

in a tin mug, voice

of a kindly god.


But I am a god no longer kind;

for you, old men, you speak your youth in whispers

you eternally consult

you eternally retract

you eternally do nothing -

even to the edge of doom.


I shall rip out your apology-tongues

hurl them into a hell of ice -

and no blessing shall ever sing on your bones.


Poems used:

Shakespeare Sonnet 116 “Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
Imtiaz Dharker “Blessing”
Gregory Corso “I am 25”

Thank you so much for sharing, Jood! I especially love the anaphora in the fourth stanza, the repetition of 'you eternally' which gives the poem's voice a godike stance, followed by the verbs ('consult', 'retract') picked from Corso's poem!

If anyone else would like to share their work, do email them to me at nellie.cole@sky.com.