No Answer

Before him in shame shall come
all who vent their anger against him.
--Isaiah 45:24b

Oh, I have railed in anger at the sky,
vented my rage, O Lord, and cursed your name,
yet I shall come to look you in the eye,
shall see you just as clearly as my shame.

Yes, I will have the same as righteous Job:
with my own eyes shall see you on the earth
and stand so close that I could touch your robe,
although I have defied you since my birth.

Then I will cry out weeping, “Where were you?”
and you will ask, “Who shut in doors the sea?”
and there will be no answer—no, it’s true—
but that you stand upon the earth with me.

As close as you’ll be then, Lord, be here now
to show that mercy greater than my death.
Show me the livid marks on hand and brow,
my Lord and God, as close as touch and breath.

Anonymous Byzantine illustration; the pre-incarnate Christ speaks to Job. Book of Job in Illuminated Manuscripts.List of Byzantine Manuscripts with Cyclic Illustration.Mount Athos.Megisti Lavra Monastery. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10827565