SCENT OF DARKNESS V

V.


not a muscle moving
in His featureless face
as He let me writhe
in His presence or within Him.

He addressed a whispered “you’re a rose”
to my wondering body that represents
me for the moment.

whether between the laughing walls of my house,
alongside woman-of-mine and the children,
or in a darkening primeval forest,
my throat grasped by His nothingness
and His awesome yearning for the aroma of roses.

all spring long I climbed
green as a neophyte
prickly and in love
and I reached hither, the roof
of the dark storehouse.

here — if only I won’t fall asleep —
let me dream the rest of the night:
from vestigial echoes of ancient music,
uni-vocal and solitary,
there slowly rise the gate and the steps, the Song of Ascents.

a House for me shall there be.

ר י ח ה ח ו ש ך

ר י ח ה ח ו ש ך