Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James NajarianSeptember 08, 2016
Why did you welcome it into the house?
Numb in the coffers
of discounted bulbs, it seemed so harmless—
Blind as a doorknob, intimating green.
But coddled indoors,
it pillared overnight, and pursued the sun,
fattening its five uneven sacks of flame.
It knew our natures,
and had come to ready its own kingdom.
In the midst of our domestic exhibit,
all the souvenirs
of ceramic, brass, dyed glass, and silver plate
that you positioned for a sensuous curve or gleam
become amateurs:
the foolish gestures of the game of home.
As for your fine timbers, your careful décor—
At any moment all may break with pleasure.
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

In his message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV encouraged parishes to put more effort into caring for the elderly.
Amid concern over immigration enforcement raids in the area, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, on July 8 issued a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for the faithful if they fear for their well-being.
Father Joshua Whitfield of Dallas, Texas spoke to OSV News after the devastating flash flooding in Texas on July 4.
Although I had set out to answer the question, “Who is Pope Leo XIV?” the question I had succeeded in answering was “Who is Robert Prevost?”
Colleen DulleJuly 10, 2025