The Round Square by Jamey Hecht

by Karen on January 31, 2007

Why is there a world at all? Guy stands up and says,
God made the world, and as for who made God, well,
That’s just a mystery beyond us. Woman says,
A round square is not a mystery beyond us;
It’s neither real nor imaginary, it’s not a concept,
Not an object, neither nothing nor an Entity.
He says, that’s what I’m saying, it’s incomprehensible.
No, she says, there’s nothing there to comprehend.
He says, of course there is, and we both know it.
She says, you’re bobbing for apples of relief, love
And immortality and along comes a word. The word
Is a noun and pretty soon you’re making it the subject
Of a world of verbs, and then the miracles begin. She says
God is logic’s corpse, a wound in reason, grammar’s empty skin

I found this poem by Jamey Hecht in a back issue of Free Inquiry and I thought I’d share it. It so neatly captures my own view of the word “God” which, depending on who you ask, means everything and nothing, order and chaos – a perfect round square.

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