The Power and the Glory

There was silence all around him.

That place was very much like the world:

overcrowded with lust and crime

and unhappy love.

It stank of heaven.

But he realized that after all

it was possible to find peace there

if you knew for certain

that the time was short.

The lightning shot down over the harbor

and the thunder beat upon the roof.

That was the atmosphere
of a whole state—the storm outside

and the talk just going on—terms like

'mystery' and 'soul' and 'the source of life'

came up over and over again

as they sat on the bed talking

with nothing to do and

nothing to believe and 

nowhere to go.