Playing God
December, Adam & Eve created the
Confessional hung with red velvet curtains
& Sap retreated from twigs & branches.
Where the woodknots had fallen out, part
Of the World never came into the World,
& at the end of a branch it changed to
A small Brown Horse. Clear sky, trees, birdsong imagine
Nothingness. I am playing God & my
Intentions walk to the beacons, drip off
Pine boughs, show first hairs of yellow pollen.
The Cosmos is Finite & there's no getting
In or out. The sky is perfectly clear
& full of stars, light I always think of
As the 60s light over the polished
Floor of the bay. The White Horse bursts into
The clearing where my Mother is washing
Dishes, Gravity, & Matter, before
A plaster cast of the Virgin Mary.
After Forty Days of Rain the Horse changes
To a small brown dog, treefrogs sing at sundown,
& the class prepares to perform a Play.
The Hospital is overcrowded &
Understaffed, it rubs its muzzle against
My face. Frogs croak in woodland ponds, the veins
Of the Tree are hissing: everyone should
Enjoy themselves. Through eyeholes in the fence
Spiders are putting out their forelegs.
Fart, vomit, groan, this is Creation.
Overlooking the sea, Adam & Eve
Sit together eating Apples. A lion
Runs out of the forest, roaring. Each time
It roars its mane expands, but between roars
The mane vanishes. We will never leave
The Beginning as Humanity has
Interpreted it: there is only One
Nurse to help on the Ward. Time slows down
Hung with objects of brightly coloured cloth.
If Matter is so ephemeral, what
Of Soul? A Magical Cave with a silver
Roof. Expanses of Time open up
In this Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights.
Page(s) 25
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- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
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- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
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