And An Angel Above (Poetry)
17th June 2012
St. Geminianus, St. Michael and St. Augustine
each with an angel above. SIMONE MARTINI (1284 - 1344)
I imagine him in his room somewhere in Chelsea
glass in hand — post-dinner brandy or a single malt —
writing me this note — enclosing it
with a Christmas card — a high-gloss-finish cut-out triptych
of grumpy-looking medieval saints.
An academic’s choice — this trio rendered
by a painter of religious icons
I’d never heard of. Their expressions seeming sombre —
uncharitably grim for souls
considered so indelibly holy —
their message stifled by the centuries —
lost in the dust of churches now restored
their venerated bones given sharply-painted faces.
His letter speaks of her —
his mother once my friend —
her goodness like the half-forgotten saints
may yet live on through film
adapted from her published writings —
to shine again with truth
and her sure brand of clarity.
This eldest son of Eve shares his small cache of hope
for the godless year ahead.
each with an angel above. SIMONE MARTINI (1284 - 1344)
I imagine him in his room somewhere in Chelsea
glass in hand — post-dinner brandy or a single malt —
writing me this note — enclosing it
with a Christmas card — a high-gloss-finish cut-out triptych
of grumpy-looking medieval saints.
An academic’s choice — this trio rendered
by a painter of religious icons
I’d never heard of. Their expressions seeming sombre —
uncharitably grim for souls
considered so indelibly holy —
their message stifled by the centuries —
lost in the dust of churches now restored
their venerated bones given sharply-painted faces.
His letter speaks of her —
his mother once my friend —
her goodness like the half-forgotten saints
may yet live on through film
adapted from her published writings —
to shine again with truth
and her sure brand of clarity.
This eldest son of Eve shares his small cache of hope
for the godless year ahead.