“Spinoza Says,” by Sandra Lim

Poetry faculty member Sandra Lim was recently featured in Zocalo Public Square. Read an excerpt of “Spinoza Says” below:

Spinoza Says

He who loves God
cannot endeavor that God
loves him in return.

Do you know,
I think the cool silver
of this is hard to live by.

When there is anything
you want very much,
you are making up a story

all of the time,
of how you will get it
and how it will be.

You want the love of God
and the human sort. A big treasure
and a little treasure.

I wonder if you’re like me,
a touch affronted by your own
underlying avidity.

Read the poem in its entirety here: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/11/20/sandra-lim-spinoza-says-poem/chronicles/poetry/