on judgment day,
we shall be commanded
to pay attention
to ourselves
as books
rumored eternal
are read aloud
not with tongues of angels
but with tongues of fire
until
the uncreated Word
is all in all.

and on judgment day,
we shall be given
to knowing
ourselves
according to the words
of one who sees in full
of one who has declared
that grace cannot forget
that forgetting is not
enough
that memory itself
must be redeemed.

and then,
when forgetting is opened
its past
shall cease to be fluid.

and then,
when memory is opened
its past
shall cease to be fixed.

and then,
when truth is spoken over me
and effectual signs are seen
i shall be set free.

(c) Benjamin Guyer, 2009