Thursday, June 23, 2016

Incantation1 Gail Hennessy #23


Incantation1

 

In the Beginning was
the Gospel of Saint John

 words read at morning Mass
swung in the crucible of innocence
prayers to the Father for my father

 
Latin transformed with
the magic of alchemy’s force
the transubstantiation of bread

 
winnowed into flesh and the wine
vintaged to blood. My grandmother
and I kneeling on the wooden pews

 
her offering prayers for her son
mine entrusted to the tongue of belief
please God, please God, please…

 

 
Gail Hennessy  2016.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 23, 2016 at 9:42 AM

    This really has the quality and rhythm of an incantation. The rhythm sounds like the mass, and the words are so raw. It has the quality of a child at mass. Lovely.

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  2. UnknownJune 23, 2016 at 5:59 PM

    nice Gail. I like how you've used the language of the Mass, esp 'the transubstantiation of bread'. Great line. And there's something so desperate about 'morning Mass', echoed in the last line.

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