THE TWO VOICES

why only three hours hanging ... were those hours companions to the days ... one to die two to descend three to rise ... take the middle hour ... was it to fall ... to lose the life of the body and the spirit ... was it the mind only that stepped into hell and what did it do there ... was the hell of it the mind racing not being able to bear the complex or the simple ... or a phantom-limb earless-ear deception hearing a cacophony of voices ... was memory a confused plague ... was understanding a terrifying failure ... or was the mind of the dead man cradled in the crook of death's elbow coming again to life waking up in the midst of hell and the heart of triumph ... whose cry human or divine scoured the reaches of time ... was it the one rebuilding creation and the other leading it back ... as they will be heard in history were they first heard in hell ... the voice of god and the voice of man ... how was it the core of hell didn't crack apart and the call to despair dam itself up ... or are they just slow in coming ... the thunder in the wake of the lightning ... the two voices now one