In this poem, God is alive. 
He is the miracle brooding over this cold congregation. 
He is the silence, the breath, & the chirruping sound.
He lives in foggy incense, flaring up the altar.
Call him bread & the wine. Lord, here I am.
Let your hymns break me into fine particles, 
speak me into existence, for I am an unpruned vine 
in this wild garden. Settle on me like morning dew, 
& make me your totem. Make me the emblazoned flame 
that dazzles in this brute wind—that I may be transformed 
into sheep. O Lord, here I am, broken.
A body of dust; make a parish of beautiful things 
out of me. 

Author’s Biography

Olobo Ejile is a poet, writer, and researcher from Dekina, Kogi State. For him, poetry is a a way of living. His works have appeared in ANA Review 2024, Shallow Tales Review, Artisans Quill, Cọ́n-scìò Magazine, and elsewhere. He is a fellow of the 2025 Idembeka Creative Writing Workshop.