The Millennial Pedestrian

Lapis Lazuli

The Virgin bends to kneel (or rises),
radiant, interrupted at her reading,
transfixed by beams
shot from the Archangel’s bow.
In an instant sacred ecstasy
will scorch her soul.

The masters of the Renaissance
milled lapis lazuli into ultramarine —  
a blue that fills us with the calm electric certainty
no harm could happen under such a sky
or to a maiden clad in such a robe.

The secret of that blue is lost.
Light is doubtful now, inclined and diffident,
and there’s a vacant space
where the shining spirit would have hovered.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006.
It's part of the New Poems category.
Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
You can be alerted via RSS when a comment on this post is made.
You can get an email when a new piece of writing is added to the site.