POETRY: Who Is God?, by Tamisha Tyler

At age 5,
He is the best answer
For Sunday school questions.
At age 8,
He is the person you give your life to
(Although the lady called him Jesus)
At age 13,
He is the only one
Who will listen to what you have to say
At age 16,
He is the last word
You use when cursing
And the first name
You call on when you’re about to get in trouble
At age 18,
He is the voice that consoles a broken heart
At age 20,
He is the grace that gives you room
To forgive yourself
From 22 to 25
He becomes the reason for your hatred
The basis on which you claim your judgment
And the source of your pride
But at 26,
You realize he was none of those things
And you wonder if you ever really knew him at all
At 28
You set out on a journey to find him
Like a child obsessed with capturing their parents’ shadow
And at 30,
You realize that the sun is East
The day is new
And he was right beside you all along
And his shadow; constantly propelling you forward into newness
He is the mystery of your life simply because he is the only thing that makes sense
He is your foundation
Whether recently rediscovered or newly found I cannot say
But he is the only support strong enough
For your ambitiously ignorant, insight-fully blinded steps that you carelessly choose to take
And although there will be many things that you will call him
In the many years that you continue to discover
He is
And always will be
God.