Sister Alice
(Old ode to an old friend)
GYJ
Sweet face, find heart that stains in trace
of other leaves earth-kissed, orange heaps,
uncovering still space beneath untired seasons-
firey forms burning veils of conscious night.
Unkeep it soon. Undertake to love
with that same unprofound Order
of yours unwinded
as we were bespoken
for centuries
in agony behind selves
lost like unkept clothes
as ancient ways
shape us into
a begodded parade
to a blood-blessed alter.
Oh yes, communion makes us jealous-
as believing in ultra-alter selves, wearing hoods
of lovers we blend and bend delusion, skirts lifting now
bewedded on knees all lost and losing
as in death, grasping at holding and hope,
all tears and flesh and candles burning as
our souls state rank beyond beholding,
becoming betrothed, betrayed or both
as wild nuns are none and light
reveals insane internment,
reprieve, release, relapse
and malice of despair.
How we must drink,
oh Alice, the vision
of this upturned
unbecoming
chalice?
More Poetry for Healing
