Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Sofia M. StarnesMarch 16, 2016
Spring is his burden, and the night, a robe: livid
as poppies in a roadside wrap, facing the dying weather.
Spring is the furrow on his shoulder swathe,
between the neck and forearm.
 
Thus was the intimation right: a savior comes
out of Jerusalem, with pericardial thread
to make a heart’s claim: that history bears his thumb,
that saints soak up their suppers,
 
while the food, redolent on the table, aches for his hands.
And so he stops,
shuffling between a bramble and a gate, making as if
to leave, as if in earnest—
 
which means uncertainty rings true:
the crooked arm—come near—the branch that either
bleeds or flowers, the trickle fog.
Ah, how the stars gallop off one another,
 
betting whether the men might, might not, will, will not
quiver the lock, set plates and cups and saucers.
The day is nearly over.
The moon, struck briefly mute, takes heart—
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Bishops from the conferences of Africa, Asia, and Latin America produced a joint document calling for climate justice ahead of the U.N. climate conference in November.
“One of the things I find most appealing about the award-winning writer and poet Mary Karr is her forthright, almost brutal, honesty.”
James Martin, S.J.July 01, 2025
Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025