the name of God you said once
getting up before a small crowd gathered
there
flew out as a Holy Name
from my ribcage
then sat down
with no other word
your widow wrote later
in her memoir.
in her memoir.
Mandelstam like you
but in another age
and on another page
I say the name of God
only the name
and mean the wildest bird
even freedom.fantastic
beyond Firebirds
the memory of music
the one with immortal plummage
the Phoenix burned
who will not burn in return
the one we would set free
as simply as you
in one poem
not even a vast one but
in one defiant gesture
a slight smile?
the Word on fire
the fire that does not consume
no more the one of secret cherishing
ah, the singing Bird
the fountainhead of Song
before the gate of doom.
uncomfortably
they shifted in their chairs
hating you
when the Bird circled back
adoringly
for certain they thought
oh how he has wronged us
or how gauche a poet
with his scraggly beard
his incorrigible delight
and their faces darkened
revealing the Black Sun
revealing the Black Sun
now he is done for
they muttered in no language at all
unlatching the cage for the
the wild, the wildest name
just God.the word signifying God
you let into the room
where no fresh breezes
bloomed.
me too
mary angela douglas 15 january 2018.
