In sapphire light they gather
And are gathered by God
An assembly of cowls

Men hidden inside their souls
So the world cannot peer in
Eyes bright as pearls

They read about Him
In the tiny, curved places
Where God’s ear is closest

His voice clearest
In the serifs, parentheses,
Apostrophes, the calligraphy

Of creation and apocalypse both,
Light and wounds
The one in the other when

The Word enters in silence.
They have become adjectives
Seeking the only noun that counts.

This article appears in December 12 2011.

Philip C. Kolin is the distinguished professor of English emeritus and editor emeritus of the Southern Quarterly at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 40 books, including nine collections of poems, the most recent being Reaching Forever: Poems.