Rome.31 July 1972. Photo: Michael Harter, SJ
Liturgical Dancers: Luis de Tavera & Joseph A. Brown, SJ.
Eucharistic Liturgy: Presider: C. J. McNaspy, SJ. Community: Jesuit Institute of the Arts. 3rd Annual Meeting.
The Tomb of Ignatius: Rome
31 July 1972
mark it out: six
footsteps. just under
that. deep enough for
a child
for a child to
hide and if able to stretch
and turn over it
would touch the walls.
no more room.
not even air would be comfortable beyond
these limits. and
tightly sealed.
2.
see it: a boat
a covered gold
boat shaped
to float lightly into the sea riding
high off to the edge of nowhere
if called. or sent.
3.
angels everywhere.
pulling the eye
up and around.
pointing into corners where
prayer evaporates and silence lingers.
behind marble clouds and silver folds
bronze curving in and out
the breath
that comes from the holy places everywhere
you look. can you
see it.
now. mark it. out.
4.
when the bones have been cleaned they must be
boiled until the last scraps of meat and muscle
collect on top.
boil them in lye for the
best results
5.
results are seldom expected. even though
you know that plants need water
and rich dirt for successful growth once
in awhile a seed
has been found
to take root in dust
airless dust
dust that is sealed away from
light from
rain from everything but
memory
(and
even some times in forgotten
dust)
6.
we were wrong
distracted fools
after gold to believe that visions
come in silence
though a busload of belgian
tourists buying postcards
avès riding
in a wave of mumbled music
timed by
camera shutters and lights locked in
15 minute cycles
the vision in that
should
have been a clue
7.
that he would have accepted
everything at once
how clear he knew that
not even bernini himself could contain
an italian determined on devotion
8.
little child
ignatius
who could follow a lame man
who wept more and more as
time slipped him somewhere.
beyond he child.
and back again
9.
called. or sent.
the eye cannot be held to sliver
lights the perfect draping on an
angel’s thigh
it is drawn to wonder
if the dust
has any hidden
10.
Sustenance
11.
it could
it could
12.
something brought us here
13.
mark it.
nowhere. mark it out.
see.
somewhere. see it. dust.
gold and bronze.
tears. visions
called it. out.
sustenance.
sent. sent or
called. called.
and sent. sent and
called. here.
yes here. of course
here. he
would know.
he knew. a flame
is always certain.
especially
in darkness. in
silence. here.
yes here.
sustenance. in dust.
in tears. in
tourists. lights.
and visions.
yes. mark it.
everywhere.
[Published in The Sun Whispers, Wait: New and Collected Poems. Brown Turtle Press. 2009]
