Illuminated Page
A gold box of Latin words
rests in a dazzling, fanciful field
someone raised to life, lavishing
flowers with untraceable roots, histories
too distant to discern,
upon skin-pale, palm-sized vellum.
Imagine the one who did this, lost
in dwindling light, a trembling flame
and painstakingly lovely colors:
blood red, violet, heavy yellow
and fierce, unnatural green.
Framed like a window
to the artist's heart, the mother
and child, uncomprehending men
offering what they can: the infant
touches a tiny, gold-leaf casket.
All around him the dark, heraldic blue
of angel winds, night sky, her veil.
And below him, you can see
the word God printed
over infinitely
careful erasures.
Copyright Credit: Jennifer O’Grady, "Illuminated Page" from Poetry magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Source: Poetry (March 1993)