by Svetlana Litvinchuk
It is the job of the young to paint
and wash and bury the dead,
to wonder did God create man
in his own image, or did man
create God in his? In whose image
do we shape the object of our doubt?
God is here and not here—acknowledging
absence is its own way of conjuring.
To give form to emptiness is to bring
about existence. To pour tar over it
and then cover it with feathers.
Notice nothing, and it will become
something; notice the vacuum,
and it will become filled.
I turn my gaze inward, seeing that I am
a vessel, and by realizing I am a cup,
I am no longer empty.
To hold space is to reach toward
wholeness. This life is a paradox—
if you want to understand
a thing, simply look to its opposite.
I know that I have bones
because I feel them supporting
my weight from collapsing onto the earth.
I cannot prove their presence
without doing great and lasting
harm to myself.
Is this what belief in God is like,
without the help of science?
I wouldn’t know.
I am not certain I can tell
the difference between being
in this room and hallucinating
life suspended in a hologram.
Even so, my home has an altar—
a space for God—does this make it
God’s house?
I sprinkle it with trinkets and baubles
as if I’m making offerings to win over
a crow. I wait by the window
for it to land.
My walls seem to say, “Come visit
me, God, sleep in my empty room.
I want to become more
than a guesthouse.
Inhabit me like bones,
give me some structure,
strengthen me, so that I may become
a home.”
Svetlana Litvinchuk is anticipating the release of her debut poetry collection, Navigating the Hallways by Starlight (Fernwood Press 2026). Nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net, her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Pleiades, swamp pink, Flyway, About Place, Moon City Review, ANMLY, Iron Horse Literary Review, Lake Effect, and elsewhere. She is the managing editor of ONLY POEMS, an editor for Rockvale Review, events manager for Chill Subs, and a columnist for Sub Club. Originally from Ukraine, she now tends her garden in Missouri. Find her on Instagram @s.litvinchuk or at www.svetlanalitvinchuk.com.