Isabella's feet
are easily within reach
of her wordless mouth
happy-quiet in her travel seat
on the knee-swept floor of
this comely church, washed in
all colors, no shape or shadow
in her unblinking wonder at the
unnouned, unverbed world
her face brushed wet
with blue, yellow
redblush sunspots,
a breathing chiaroscuro in Rembrandt pleasure
washing her own feet
of dust she has not yet walked through
in stained glass lightspill she has not yet read
shaken by low tones of the
organ she has not yet heard
©Bill Gnade 2005/Contratimes -- All Rights Reserved.
of her wordless mouth
happy-quiet in her travel seat
on the knee-swept floor of
this comely church, washed in
all colors, no shape or shadow
in her unblinking wonder at the
unnouned, unverbed world
her face brushed wet
with blue, yellow
redblush sunspots,
a breathing chiaroscuro in Rembrandt pleasure
washing her own feet
of dust she has not yet walked through
in stained glass lightspill she has not yet read
shaken by low tones of the
organ she has not yet heard
©Bill Gnade 2005/Contratimes -- All Rights Reserved.
posted by Bill Gnade at 5:18 AM
6 Comments:
:-) Whew.. what a picture of peace!
Hi Bill.
I remember this one! Actually, I've heard you read it.
I like the whole thing, a lot, but the beginning really makes me smile:
"...are easily within reach
of her wordless mouth..."
because whenever I see a baby reaching to put their feet in their mouth, I start laughing uncontrollably.
Can you imagine what this world would be like if everyone read a poem like 'Isabella's Feet' every morning instead of a newspaper?
What a painterly ("brushed wet" is wonderful) vision of innocence.
Luke
PS--If you'd ever let me publish 'Isabella' in my mag, I'd be honored.
Dear anonymous,
Thanks for coming by. Blessings to you.
BG
LukeBuckham the saint,
You are welcome to publish Isabella's Feet.
Thanks for coming by, and thanks for the kind words.
Peace,
BG
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Bill!
Thanks so much.
The next issue comes out on Independence Day. It'll implicitly declare independence from just about everything but gravity. Wait--I've just changed my mind: it will also declare Independence from gravity. After all, I don't want to make my readers feel weighed down.
I love writing poems about children who catch my eye, too. A great weight lifts from my shoulders when I deliberately write about delight & innocence.
Speaking of delight, here's a sneak preview: the issue of 'The Inappropriate' including 'Isabella' will include in its front cover art a large picture of a toddler playing piano and grinning his toothless head off. The back cover features a smiling gorilla and some nudists playing pool. Delight, indeed.
Feel free to submit other pieces to the e-mail address listed on my blog. I hope you won't mind if I include a couple of other pieces of yours. I feel good about including your work; it will add that much more flavor & variety to the mag. Thanks again!
Luke
PS--I don't think I'm in any danger of achieving sainthood. However, if I live to be 130 years old, I may in that time gain to wisdom necessary to attain goodegghood.
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