� copyright All Rights Reserved Wilson, Richard S.

"GOD WRITES STRAIGHT WITH CROOKED LINES"

 ( after Barton Sutter )

Like an amputee's phantom itch that persists
I can't understand the fascination.
Though I keep imagining
the frowning wounds on this Byzantine
crucifix turning from pigment to blood
that would explain it all.

After compline, up to my knees in candlelight
I have nodded off in this chapel
trying to figure out
between my Didymus doubts
why I've come this far.
As if prayers knew the story by heart.
As if all these crooked paths meant something.