Friday, October 02, 2009

Jubilee Year

It originally occurred once
every one-hundred years. Then,
it was fifty, and now we gather
once every twenty-five years
at the doorway of St. Peters,
embraced by the circular arms
of the piazza, the raindrops
falling over the holy city
baptizing us again and again
until we are saturated.

As the doors open, I am a fish
in the river of people churning
through the central archway
of the cathedral, cheek-by-jaw
with the diseased, the blessed,
the cursed and cursing all
shoving for their own moment
of grace. As we pass over
the threshold and congregate
within the church, we meander
the apse, gazing at the images
of divine sacrifice, suddenly
unsure of what to do
with our newfound salvation.

(Get your poem on: http://readwritepoem.org/)

4 comments:

Paul Oakley said...

Great religious imagery: embracing arms of the piazza, raindrops as baptism, fish in a river of people. Wonderful characterization of those seeking grace: the diseased, the blessed, the cursed and cursing.

I like the indirection experienced by the newly saved, the expectation that their experience entails doing something, an unawareness that being is just as important as doing.

This is a very nice poem, Nathan.
_____

Paul Oakley

Anonymous said...

The words which compel me most within your poem are these:

>> embraced by the circular arms
of the piazza, the raindrops
falling over the holy city
baptizing us again and again
until we are saturated. <<

Anonymous said...

PS - My open id identity isn't working right. *Rolling my eyes* the last comment and this one come from Julie Jordan Scott, who read your link from ReadWritePoem.Org.

Wayne Pitchko said...

nicely done....thanks for sharing