HIGH JUBILEE
As the flashy plumage of the peacocks
contrasts with the somber wall
of a hunchbacked cathedral… so
the worldly chit-chat of the literati mocks
the stark lofty simplicity
of a mountain crossroad –
where a mule bites goad
with gritted teeth (stubborn humility).
& I think of those high stony passes
of Armenia tonight
as I foot my way, right
back to bright horseplay of Itasca
primavera springs. Up there, young
Ojibwe (generation after
generation) took the fast
of separation from the world (a brave-sprung
discipline) – & he awoke & found it truth.
So (as I inch toward the close
of my rheumy, 8-years’
rêve-glose) I want to emulate that youth
& drink the clear spring water, sing my fast
manifest the rabbit frame
these longish footprints form…
untwist my Huckleberry ruse at last.
Tell me what is a human soul & spirit
& you will say what I mean.
What they have always been –
a knot of everlasting life, the whit-
*
sun wedding of the nodding twain.
Theseus, Ariadne… Adam,
Eve… – til Jesus came
& lifted every limb to Paradise (again).
All’s figures. Here’s a 4-leaf clover;
twirl it between your fingers.
See where Hobo lingers,
lost in his maze… only a cavernous nave
overhead (synagogue of Always-There).
Can you conceptualize
the structure of the Bible? Is
your mind glazed yet, by the seven spare
sparks of Pentecost? Has the Spirit
settled upon you as a dove
& vaulted you to eaves of love?
This is the salt that fires each aspirant
& burns away the dross around the urn –
kindling Dante, Roger Williams –
forging those adamant amalgams
melding heaven-earth, sacred-profane…
prophetic copper work of Providence.
For the covenant of God
with Man is happy seed-
grain of the common good – equivalence
of Golden Rule & last commitment;
liberty from tyranny
is predicated on glory… high
Jubilee of restoration (in a dreamer’s tent).
4.24.20
