Artefacts of a near life
© John Robert Lee
~ Hebrews 2:14
For Vladimir Lucien
Out of the creeping undergrowth of manuscripts
words line themselves with the body of the page
immaculately. Leaving decorated margins
of our modest codex, we ache to glimpse the enraptured
end of the art of faith. In the font’s innocent concavities
we imagine bold faces of eager messengers.
At the edge of improbable translation, we are assuaged
by incredible epiphanies cradling
in paperback covers.
Herod’s night raiders read
Bethlehem right. The local chapter of Moloch
plots the setting of the star. Mythology
parses into facts: angels, shepherds, feeding trough —
where, in this part of the prologue,
the Death-Defeater’s mother laughs His gurgles to the kneeling kings.
~ John Robert Lee
John Robert Lee is a writer of prose, poetry, journalism; a librarian; and a former radio and television broadcaster. His latest publications are ‘elemental: new and selected poems, 1975-2007’ ( Peepal Tree Press, 2008), ‘Sighting and other poems of faith’ (Mahanaim, 2013) and ‘Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative writing: 1948-2013’ (Mahanaim, 2013). His bibliography of Caribbean literature is available here.
