the golden orb descends: wires of light
transfix the dog; juddering angels unscroll
amens; Bernini’s stone dissolves in ecstasy;
later metals (Rodin’s) convulse the stillness; the ear
pierced with silence unfurls into an open heart
the word makes flesh supple in the furnaces of affliction
do not imagine that this is simple
martyrs are daily tortured not only by this world’s relations
both dark and light threaten their path
the ways of knowing and unknowing go to the same places
the gifts they offer deny the desire to know and
the green remains unsoiled in our presence and the figures
we assume for the moment and are caught between
walk the circus’ high wire
of abandonment
and the incarnate prodigal unquenchable fire