God Could Have Made a Universe

 God could have made a universe

that was not cold and empty

overwhelmed by nothing

inimical to life. Not dangerous to planets

anomalous enough to struggle against all odds

to life. God

                         could have created a world

where lead did not taste sweet and babies

never died before they drew breath. God

 

                            could have made men

never driven by lust for power or children.

 

I think I would have loved a world

where life was firm and sure

and tomorrow didn’t feed on death

and people didn’t die just trying to stay warm

and no one ever drowned in the family pool,

where love never betrayed itself or me.

 

I would like to believe I could have lived in that world

engulphed in love and unafraid, lived in that world

as though it had been made for me.

 And you...?