“You cannot see my face

For no one may see me and live.”

(Exodus 33:20)

Filthy hands; rats in the walls

Fetid flesh walks about in the dark

I sweat through the coldest nights

Alone, with their hair in my eyes

The candle flame wavered

As in the winds of a mountain

But the air had long gone stale

With mildew, musk, and hate

Frost lightning struck

The wall obeyed

The parting clouds of a storm

And I saw the face of God

And I saw his eyes were rotting

I've been in this basement for a year

My skin is piled on the stairs