Study Incident
"The absence of the witch does not
Invalidate the spell --" Emily Dickinson
Restrained in her company,
Among Alleluias
To smile when she releases doves.
My heart has no shape
It is a thing of boundless light.
My heart is a fire
Which does not give smoke.
_____
Sweet satire, she smiles.
My toes grip the sandals' thongs;
I feel the cords about me loosen-
Watch her silken dress slide cross
Her skin.
Her skin is like milk
Or like the sage moon in the sky.
_____
She speaks, ions bristle and glow in the air,
I am irrecoverably hers.
She has invited me to myself
Without exposing me.
Her artist's hands have shaped a melody
Using only the sound of her own voice.
She carves the air like a living thing made of stone.
She carves the air into the shape of a fantastic serpent
W/wings.
She then flicks the scales and eyes into place
With tongue to teeth,
Her face deific.
We are led outside (by something).
The tree leaves have changed
Their color and fallen
Bright yellow, rust and green.
From the corner of my sight
I see them swept cross grass
By the wind like waves.
She puts divinity into my hands
With a kiss,
My fingers curl about her mouth,
Her tongue upon the palm of my hand,
She is shading divinity
With a chiaroscuro.
She is lithe and limpid
She is a cheetah made of living crystal
Running thru the mountains
Of the moon, hunting.
STANLEY GEMMELL
RHODE ISLAND, OCTOBER 27, 2010
Paintings: Tiffany Cabral
