Welcome to a sanctified place
was in essence what they said to me,
not with their hands or their lips,
but their twinkling eyes,
the timid soul come forth
out of every cavernous exile
and right up to the window to behold,
in this place
guarded and free,
the faces of the friends,
and it was here that I’d experience
the rob of my pain,
the momentary lifting of the cloud
to reveal my soul in its fetters,
the terrific gouge of the Visitation Tablet
releasing me for moments from my binding,
to go into the bathroom
heaving and sobbing
and with emerald eyes
surrounded by red flesh
glowing with disgust and revelation,
with deep penance and absolved
grains of pain within my heart,
and I washed up and dragged paper towel
across my face and sat outside
and felt so ravaged,
inside and out,
by the summons of my God
that I could hardly breathe.
Welcome to a sanctified place
is what they said to me
with the purity of their eyes,
and I knew love in their gaze,
whenever it was on me.
There was no trouble, nor broken time,
but the long and lofty Path
opened up before my eyes
for the very first time.
01/12/2017
Richmond