Antediluvian

“Day One” by Yoram Raanan

rain washes dirt
from feet of our conscience
it rinses off paths
paved with transgressions
rain gives us a moment
apparently clean
or sometimes an hour
to reckon a deeper set stain
but rain’s not enough
to clean slates
it requires a flood
to destroy our destructions

Malocchio

“Malocchio” by Erhard Paskuda

grandma’s kitchen

immaculate white

painted cupboards

and wainscoting

dangling my little

boy legs from her

oversized praying

chair under the

lachrymose gaze

of an heirloom

carved crucifix

crackle-glazed dish

of fine faience

at rest on my lap

water filling its low

shallow purposeful

bowl as she spoons

on its surface a

single gold drop

holy chrism oil

watching the shape

of its motion for signs

of insidious evil eye

known in my clan

as malocchio

whether by doom or

design may have

glanced at me

staining my inchoate

soul with misfortune

she softly incants

that most magical

ancient arrangement

of words whose

prescription dispels

the dread curse

then reciting our

prayers in a song of

duet grandma lays

devout thumbs to my

brow makes the ritual

sign of the cross

and I know in my heart

I am once again safe

and re-purified

(This comes from my last lingering memory of my maternal grandmother, Maria Gaetana Scarlatelli DeTore, who passed when I was but a lad of six years old. She was a saintly sweet bulldog, steeped in her Roman Catholic faith and the cultural traditions and superstitions of her native Italian village. A most beloved and relentless guardian of the souls of her very large brood of children and grandchildren.)

Iniquity

“Gradually Falling Asleep in Apathy of Unconsciousness” by Paulo Sergio Zerbato

stand in the rain

brave the storm

wash the guilt

of indifference

before it sets

permanent stain

take clean-handed

hold of opinion

adopt a position or

suffer the pangs of

dead conscience

in face of events

intellectual mayhem

gone out of control

because too many

moribund minds

prefer comfort of

sleep to the hard

pensive business

of outsmarting

vicious iniquity

Mud Room

 

“Pair of Worn Shoes” by Vincent Van Gogh

 

 

a place to get shed
of an unclean world
drop the boots
that have slogged
through iniquity
strip the slicker
still dripping with
brazen deceit
peel the gloves
bloodied black
from fending off
malice and mayhem

a vestibule chapel
a cleansing place
meant for a private
few moments to
regather dignity
ready to reenter
unspoiled spaces
of family and faith
and fraternity
home to the hearth
mighty weary but
clean once again

 

 

From my book Human Waters

Shriven

“A Cleansing”
Painting by pearl82980
From deviantart.com

turn the key
drop the chains
from the heart
open up
the pale skin
let the anger
and bitterness
drain from
the veins
leave the past
in a puddle
abandon the
pain pluck
the nettles
forget how
the blame
came to birth
disown guilt
through remorse
become soft
with tomorrow
enjoy these
new few
freshened days
look to bloom
in this sweet
final season
ready for
dying in
rose petal peace
clean at last