Open to the Spark of the Divine

         All the people saw the sounds and the flashes, 

         the sound of the shofar and the mountain smoking…

          (Exodus 20:18)

Imagine standing at Sinai

standing on firm ground

the feel of earth beneath your feet

a hard connection to place

You hear the whispers, a  woman

standing behind you tells her child

to hush, another says she’s thirsty

They wait and watch, listen and stare

although they cannot see what

happens on this mountain

Perhaps says one woman whose

body wears her years we will

get a glimpse, a quick hazy look

at God—just enough to desire 

Then they saw the sounds—

Each sound turned into a color,

an image, vivid as the child 

who clapped when seeing 

the color of words and the sound

of the shofar 

Imagine awe