Short and Untitled, Bradley Hathaway

(As a side note: the video says that the poem is entitled, "Silence". It's not.)

They say that
"Sometimes you're further than the moon
and Sometimes closer than my skin."

Indeed
 I remember when you were closer than my skin.
Those were the evenings spent alone with you in bliss.
Those were the mornings you awoke me with a gentle kiss.

And these are the evenings I sit alone and wish and reminisce.
These are the mornings when I wake to an alarm clock
after falling asleep with the hurting thought,
"Why have you forsaken me?"

From what I have gathered from Hathaway’s book, All the Hits so Far, the person being addressed in this poem is god.
As a hard-core, flying-spaghetti-monster-touting atheist; it is probably ironic that I love this poem.
One of the things that I love about this piece is the blatant honesty. A lot of artists with strong religious views tend to make the mistake of only telling their audience what they believe. One of the things that stood out to me about this piece is that Hathaway is showing us how he feels in relation to what he believes.
Although the original intent of this poem is in the context of prayer; I feel that it could be related to in other ways as well. Many of us experience pauses, hiatuses and burn outs in relationships; I think that it is a very emotionally accessible piece even if you do not share his relationship with his god.

Bradley Hathaway is a slam poet and musician from Fort Smith, Arkansas. He has published one book, released three cd's and often makes appearances within the Christian music circuit. When asked about his career aspirations; he responded with, "Yesterday I had a vision of sorts. People had little seeds in their heads. As I spoke they begin to sprout, bud, and a large pink flower bloomed inside of their heads. That's what I hope to happen.".