Tetragrammaton

Once upon a time —
and even now —
people sought (and seek)
the ability to pronounce
the four letter
True Name
Of God.

It is alleged that to speak it
is to own this existence,
to become that which was spoken.

There’s no certainty
of how it is supposed to sound.
No one’s ever been able to prove
that they know the One True Name,
but that failure pales beside
the rich murmur of poetry
that blankets the earth every day
as we try to get it right.

If it never happens,
if the Word is never uttered
and no one ever lives
happily ever after,

it won’t be because
we never struggled
our way through beauty
while learning to speak.