Gods

Mrs. Sexton went out looking for the gods. / She began looking in the sky — / expecting a large white angel with a blue crotch. // No one. // She looked next in all the learned books / and the print spat back at her. // No one. // She made a pilgrimage to the great poet / and he belched in her face. // No one. // She prayed in all the churches of the world / and learned a great deal about culture. // No one. // She went to the Atlantic, the Pacific, for surely God . // No one. // She went to the Buddha, the Brahma, the Pyramids / and found immense postcards. // No one. // Then she journeyed back to her own house / and the gods of the world were shut in the lavatory. // At last! / she cried out, / and locked the door.