" title="Painted, spoken John Gibbens
La Sainte-Chapelle
The earthen king, the sanctified,
where light like blood and water mixed
flows down on us from either side
through pierced walls, veined like fly-wings, scaled
with glass accounts of holy wars,
adored the twigs that once transfixed
God’s temples; who fell on all fours,
whose garland was the sign he failed.
Les demoiselles de Saint-Denis
are built upon a broader plan,
who graze that street, in hope of fee,
named for the man who lost his head.
Black sheep of God, but dressed as lambs,
they give good head to sons of man
and hoist them up with hardy hams
above the seed-bespattered bed.
The stones aroused in sheer belief
assume the glories of the air.
The prince’s court, one twisting thief,
has seen the stabbed head shake and bow
to a quicker end. The tall doors
swing to let the lion pad his lair
and pray, beneath that thorn whose haws
are life. Garnets rain from Christ’s brow
as the autumnal Paris sun,
grown bleary with the day-long trade,
displays the bijoux one by one,
beryl, jacinth and chrysoprase,
that dye the dust, and light no shrine.
Outside, the river wipes its blade
against the isle, and checks its shine,
then runs on under equal rays.
Page(s) 18
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