no time ago

If anyone doubts that e. e. cummings' poetry often has religious themes, let this poem serve as a gentle and partial rebuff:
no time ago
or else a life
walking in the dark
i met christ

jesus)my heart
flopped over
and lay still
while he passed(as
close as i'm to you
yes closer
made of nothing
except loneliness

This poem is brief and the grammar is relatively straightforward.  There are parts that are hard to figure, exactly.  The encounter with Christ - either a moment ago or a lifetime ago - was not exactly a moment of conversion, although there was something of a change ("flopped over") of heart involved.  Is the poet's heart playing dead?  Christ came very close to him, but what - was it Jesus? - was made of "nothing except loneliness"?  And what does that mean, exactly.  The poem is desolate or forlorn... is it desperate?

An encounter with Christ, outside of the happy-clappy conversion ("I've been saved, Hallelujah!") moments, can be hard to categorize.

Your thoughts, dear reader?
on

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